Monterey Moving Forward With Restructuring Pay Scale

Monterey has begun the process of restructuring the pay scale for city employees.

Alderman Nathan Walker said the city will look at ending a system that tops out employee pay after one year.

“We’re not looking to take anything away from anybody,” Walker said. “We’re actually looking to create a system that will reward them (employees) for their longevity. Hopefully we can keep some of them here with us longer because we all benefit from having longevity employees.”

Under the proposal, Walker said employees would get raises for promotions, length of employment, and gaining certification requirements in their fields. He said he would like to have something approved and in place by the start of the 2020-2021 fiscal year.

“We’re going to have something hopefully put together by our next finance committee meeting,” Walker said. “We’ll then incorporate that into the 2020-2021 budget.”

Members of the finance committee began talking about creating a new pay scale last year. At the time, Walker called the current structure weak and said it lacked in rewarding employees for service.

“Under our current pay scale, employees technically max out after one year of service,” Walker said. “There’s a longevity bonus at certain key points, but that’s basically just a cash payment. We’re looking to kind of come into the modern world here a little bit.”

Walker said he plans to schedule a finance committee meeting within the next two weeks.