News Talk 94.1/AM 1600 Where The Upper Cumberland Talks
City of Cookeville starting the process to conduct a $40,000 salary study before the next budget season.
City Manager James Mills said even after historic raises for its city employees, there is more to be done.
“But with the rate of inflation and the difficulty we were having filling some of our positions we felt like a salary study was needed to see where we are,” Mills said. “We do believe we still have some positions that probably aren’t competitive with other cities.”
Mills said they believe some positions that require more specialized training and more education could be made more competitive. He said the study will take into account things like how the city’s wages compare to other cities in the south, and what it will take to make them so.
Mills said they have received three proposals from groups willing to do the salary study. He said once city council approves one of the proposals, they will get to work. Mills said they are anxious to hear back as soon as possible before budget season begins.
“It’s a pretty in-depth study, they look at all of our job descriptions, then they take those and compare them to other cities,” Mills said. “It requires a specialized field of study to do this kind of work and do this process.”
