More city of Meridian employees will see their paychecks grow after the City Council voted Tuesday to approve additional pay raises.

The council voted to give $1,500 pay raises to exempt and non-exempt, full-time employees making between $65,000 and $90,000 per year.

Tuesday’s vote comes after the council previously issued $3,000 pay raises in November to employees making under $65,000 annually. At the time, Councilman Dwayne Davis said city employees not included in the initial raises would be taken care of at a later date.

Under the November council order, employee pay was not allowed to exceed $65,000. An employee making $63,000 per year, for example, would only be eligible for $2,000 under the initial plan.

Meridian Fire Chief Michael Evans said several people in his department fell into the partial raise area where they did not get the full $3,000 due to the council’s cap. With the council now issuing $1,500 raises for those making above $65,000, he said his firefighters will want to know if they will receive that raise as well.

“I know I’m going to be asked as soon as I walk back in the fire station,” he said.

Councilman Joe Norwood Jr., who proposed both pay raises, said employees who received the initial pay raise, even in part, are not eligible for the $1,500 raise.

“We won’t double dip,” he said.

With the pay raises passed, the City Council also voted to freeze any other pay raises for city workers for the remainder of the fiscal year, which runs through Sept. 30, with exceptions for raises tied to education, training and promotion. Many city positions have built-in pay incentives for workers who pursue higher education degrees or skills certifications.

Councilwoman Ty Bell Lindsey said the council wants to encourage workers to take advantage of education and training opportunities while taking greater control of pay increases.

“We don’t want to exclude education and training because it’s very important to make sure our employees are very educated and knowledgeable to do what they need to do, and based off of that, they definitely should be rewarded,” she said. “But everything else, when it comes to any other ‘isms,’ we will be more in control of that here at the City Council.”

Davis, who has repeatedly called for the council to be notified when employees are given raises, said the freeze will enable the council to make sure raises are given fairly.

“We’re taking the raises from the ones that are given raises just because someone likes them or being favorite,” he said

When it comes to employee compensation, the City Council is responsible for setting pay bands that define the lowest and highest possible pay for each position. As long as they stay within the pay band and the money is in the budget, department heads do not need to notify the council or get its approval to give individual employees a raise.