The Cottonwood Heights City Council is deliberating how to find balance in annual salary increases for city staff members. COLA (Cost of Living Adjustment) and merit increases are discussed annually and implemented in the City Budget every summer. As inflation continues to impact newer employees, municipalities around the state have been considering raising COLA even more. 

“Grocery shopping is insane,” said Councilmember Suzanne Hyland.  

 Councilmember Matthew Holton and Hyland have been sitting on the Compensation Committee for Cottonwood Heights. They have both been talking through various ideas that may bridge some of the gaps between compensation and inflation. Their focus has been on trying to fairly compensate those who are being hit by inflation the most. 

“(I don’t do this often but) I went and bought a bag of (Salsa Verde) Doritos the other day. It was $6.50, and I couldn’t believe it,” Holton said. 

The Compensation Committee tossed the idea of giving everyone a one-time bonus, instead of modifying the proposed COLA and merit increases, to the city council. Some of the numbers discussed for a one-time bonus for city staff members were between $1,500 and $2,500. 

Ultimately, the Compensation Committee wanted to look at options thinking “outside of the box” because COLA and merit structures are typically based in percentages. 

“The person who is making less is going to get less of an increase even through inflation hurts them more,” said Mayor Mike Weichers. 

“You’ve seen members of my staff filed in here with babies in hand,” commented Cottonwood Heights Police Chief Robby Russo. “When I go to the grocery store, if I need to buy eggs, cheese and Doritos, I put them in my basket, notice how expensive they are, and still buy them because I can. Some of our younger officers can’t and have to put back some of those items because they have to buy diapers and formula.” 

“I represent at least 60% of the employees,” Russo said, “and I want to support my staff.”

“I represent 100% of the employees here,” responded City Manager Tim Tingey. “I have big concerns with this plan. I have concerns with what it does to market structure. I have concerns about our pay structure.” 

Tingey explained how lower-end staff members do get a 5% merit increase within their first three years of employment, if they perform well. His concerns revolve around the market as COLA deals with market trends so it would be hard to compare markets with other cities if the standard pay structures were modified significantly. He ultimately recommend against moving away from market-based pay structures.

Records, Culture, and Human Resources Director Paula Melgar also mentioned that possible solutions to increasing salary outside of the structure of COLA and merit could influence the retirement funding for those who are close to their retirement dates.  

“I would have a really hard time disrupting the current process as it is now. I have the same concern about those who are struggling,” said Councilmember Shawn Newell. “We are constrained with our city budget because we are facing fiscal pressures as well.”

“Every 1% increase in COLA seemed to be about $108,000, when I was looking at the budget,” Hyland said.

“I don’t think it’s exact—it’s pretty close with probably one or two thousand differences than that… because of the compounded effects of percentages,” said Finance Director Scott Jurges. 

Ordinance 418: Adopting a Final Budget for the Period of July 1, 2024 through June 30, 2025 was passed on June 18 during the City Council Business Meeting at 7 p.m. It was motioned by Councilmember Hyland, seconded by Councilmember Holton, and unanimously approved. 

 “This currently includes a 3% COLA increase across the board,” said Jurges. 

Even though the COLA percentage had to be finalized by the state’s June deadline for budgets, members of the compensation committee, city council, and city staff are determined to continue exploring some alternatives and bring back these conversations. 

“I’m for relooking at our compensation structure for next year,” Weichers said. “That doesn’t give anyone false hope, and everyone should know that we are going to take a hard look at this.” λ