Some Meridian city employees will see their paychecks grow just in time for the holidays after the City Council on Tuesday approved a plan to raise workers’ pay.

Councilman Joe Norwood Jr., who proposed the plan, said full-time employees, both exempt and non-exempt, making less than $65,000 per year, will receive $3,000 raises. City workers making more than $65,000 will not receive a raise under Tuesday’s plan, and the pay increase will not be allowed to exceed a $65,000 annual salary.

The council, along with the city administration, has been working to address problems with pay, especially at the lower end of the city’s pay scale. Multiple departments have reported difficulties in hiring and retaining workers due to the low starting pay.

A salary study of city positions done by the John C. Stennis Institute of Government & Community Development in July found salaries for Meridian’s administrative positions are mostly in line with other similar municipalities, but entry-level positions, such as maintenance and custodians, were lower than average.

Norwood said his proposal, which will provide the raises based on positions and not individual employees, will help address that problem as well.

Mayor Jimmie Smith said he appreciated the council’s action but additional changes will be needed to get the city where it needs to be. The council, he said, should address the findings in the salary study to put the city’s pay on track for the future.

The council’s action did not include raises for any city employee making over $65,000 per year or workers filling temporary and part-time spots. Councilman Dwayne Davis, however, said those employees have not been forgotten and plans are already in the works to take care of them down the line.

Matthew Peterson, a research associate with the Stennis Institute who performed the salary study, is expected to visit with the council in December to help plan out the next steps, Davis said.

“We’re going to come back to you all,” he said.

Councilman George Thomas, who cast the lone vote against the proposal, said he fully supports the pay raises but is concerned simply giving employees a raise won’t do enough to fix the low starting pay that is making hiring difficult.

Chief Financial Officer Brandye Latimer said it will take time to implement the raises, but employees should see their checks grow by Dec. 1.

Real Time Crime Center

In other business, the City Council gave a nod to move forward with advertising for bids to build a Real Time Crime Center at Meridian Police Department. When complete, the RTCC will be a central monitoring station for hundreds of cameras placed throughout the city, providing real-time data to first responders and capturing video evidence.

The council declined a request from Smith’s office to transfer $1,219,993 from the legislative fund, which the council controls, to Meridian Police Department for the building’s construction, along with multiple other budget amendments, but agreed to move forward with advertising the project as the city and council work out the funding. Davis said council members had not had an opportunity to discuss the amendments and needed to do so before bringing them up for a vote.

Bob Luke, of LPK Architects, which designed the RTCC, said the project is ready to go, but putting off advertising would cause significant delays with the holiday season approaching. Waiting, he said, would add an additional four weeks to the process, and with volatile markets, the cost of building the RTCC could grow.

City Attorney Will Simmons said the city will not be able to legally award the project until the funding has been encumbered and is available to pay the contractors, but the city can move forward with advertising the work.

The funds to pay for the project are there, Norwood said. The money is just in a different account under the general fund. Once the council is able to discuss the budget amendments further, the funding will be transferred to the police department, he said.