As the Austin City Council debates changes to the city staff’s proposed budget, City Manager T.C. Broadnax offered an amendment of his own Tuesday: a larger raise for the city’s lowest-paid employees.
Broadnax’s original proposal included a 3% base wage increase for all regular, non-sworn employees, a $35.4 million citywide investment. Council members are considering amendments to his proposed spending planbefore adopting the final budget next week.
The city’s employee union union, AFSCME Local 1624, had asked for a flat $1,479 raise for employees earning less than $23.71 an hour. About 100 workers would have received more under that approach than they would through the proposed 3% increase, at an additional cost of roughly $5,000.
After reviewing the request, the city Human Resources Department determined that the budgetary impact would be minimal, Broadnax wrote in memo to the mayor and council.
Broadnax instead recommended a broader change.
Under his proposal, all regular, non-sworn employees would receive either a 3% raise or a $1,590 increase, whichever is greater. The change would benefit an estimated 500 to 600 employees and add about $20,000 to the proposed budget.
AFSCME Local 1624 President Brydan Summers said the union has spent the past two years advocating for a progressive cost-of-live adjustment that provides larger raises to the city’s lowest-paid workers
“We are grateful that City Manager Broadnax consulted with the union and included it in the proposed budget,” he said in a statement. “This equitable raise will provide five to six hundred employees with increased financial stability during a time of high inflation and cost of living challenges.”