SPRINGDALE — A $600 bonus for Springdale city employees will be on the table at the next City Council meeting.
The council Finance Committee sent a proposal Monday for the bonus to the entire council with a recommendation for approval. The council’s next meeting is set for June 14.
The proposal, brought to the committee by Mayor Doug Sprouse, came after he promised during the 2011 budget process to see if the city could improve employee pay by the middle of the year.
“We didn’t know when we would get increased revenue as a result of the census numbers,” Sprouse said. “We ended up getting it in February, so we’ll get 11 months of increase.”
With a jump in population shown by the census, the city has received a larger percentage of Washington and Benton county sales taxes. It also receives more state turnback money, according to figures provided by Wyman Morgan, city director of administration and finance. State turnback money comes to cities on a per capita basis.
Revenue projections predict the city will receive an additional $132,000 from Washington County sales taxes, $175,000 in Benton County sales taxes and $29,000 in turnback money. The increased revenue totals $336,000. The cost of the bonuses would be about $294,000, Morgan said.
“A bonus is the most I felt the city could afford,” Sprouse said.
A raise would carry forward to the next year’s budget, he said, while a bonus does not. The city’s sales tax has not increased as its portion of the county taxes have, Sprouse said.
“I would not feel comfortable recommending raises as long as the city sales taxes are like that,” Sprouse said.
Dudley Gideon, a representative from the city’s firefighters union, asked the council to consider adding a step increase to next year’s budget.
With step increases, new employees can see what pay they will receive down the road. Not giving the increases throws this off, Gideon said.
“Each year, it’s getting further out of whack,” he said.
The city gave a step increase in 2010, a bump in pay to reflect an employee’s extra value because of a year’s experience. A step increase averages about 4 percent to 5 percent raise, Morgan said.
In 2008, employees received a 2 percent raise. In 2009 and 2011, employees did not receive any pay increase in the budget.
The Washington County Quorum Court plans to give full-time employees a $500 bonus and $250 to part-time workers. The Fayetteville Mayor Lioneld Jordan announced in March city employees would receive a $500 bonus.