Columbus City Council voted 3-2 Tuesday night to give incentive pay to about 235 hourly employees after a months-long struggle with the issue.
The pay plan will cost about $750,000 to be paid through federal American Rescue Plan Act funding the city is receiving for COVID-19 relief.
In September the council put aside about $1.3 million of its more than $5 million in ARPA money with the intention of giving its employees premium pay after plans for raises fell through. Those plans have not fared well since, with City Attorney Jeff Turnage repeatedly saying that proposals to give retroactive pay to city employees ran afoul of state law.
Although ARPA funding is federal, money for municipalities was distributed to the state, which in turn passed it along to cities and towns. Because of that, Turnage said previously, it was bound by state spending laws.
Tuesday night, Turnage and Ward 4 Councilman Pierre Beard, who has spearheaded the effort to get premium pay passed, presented the council with a way forward.
“This is something I’ve been fighting for to help our employees,” Beard said. “…The attorney told me no a bunch of times, and I went and did a bunch of research on other ways to do it. And he said we still couldn’t do it, but we’re finally at a point to attempt to show our employees we appreciate them.”
Full-time hourly employees will get $3,000 in “incentive pay” for working during the period of April 1 to Sept. 30, Turnage explained. The money will be split into two $1,500 payments.
“That is incentive compensation for continuing to work during the pandemic from April 1 to Sept. 30,” Turnage said. “That will be broken down into two payments, the first due on or after June 30 and the second Sept. 30.”
If an employee is out sick, working virtually or on annual leave they will not get incentive pay for those days, Turnage said. They will get a prorated amount for the number of days they actually work “in-person and hands-on.”
Part of the resolution called for the city to get an attorney general’s opinion signing off on the payments.
“I have a little anxiety about it meeting state law, which it has to do also,” Turnage said. “The AG has issued numerous opinions saying incentive pay is legal as long as it’s for work in the future and not a bonus for past work. There is no past work being compensated for this.”
Ward 5 Councilman Stephen Jones moved to proceed with the incentive pay plan, which Beard seconded.
Ward 6 Councilwoman Jacqueline DiCicco had some doubts.
“I wish we would wait (for the AG opinion),” she said. “Are they prompt getting opinions back to us?”
“They are prompt sometimes and sometimes they’re not so prompt,” Turnage said. “I would suggest there’s no harm in approving it. The resolution makes it subject to a favorable opinion.”
Beard said there were plenty of AG’s opinions on the subject, but Turnage said he wants one anyway.
“All of the most recent ones were favorable, but those were not issued by (Attorney General Lynn Fitch) and she’s different than some of her predecessors,” Turnage said. “It’s wise to cover yourself so you don’t have (State Auditor Shad White) coming up here and asking questions with a badge and a gun.”
The motion passed 3-2, with Ward 1 Councilwoman Ethel Taylor Stewart, Beard and Jones voting in favor and Ward 3 Councilman Rusty Greene and DiCicco voting no.
Ward 2 Councilman Joseph Mickens, who was present for the first hour of the meeting, had left by the time this vote was taken.
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