It was clear from the start of Roanoke’s tumultuous budget season this year that improving employee compensation for the city’s 1,643 full-time employees was a priority for new City Manager Valmarie Turner.
“We must address the growing demands of our workforce, particularly when it comes to overtime or city employee compensation; ensuring fair pay for our dedicated employees, as well as providing the necessary resources for overtime, particularly in public safety, is crucial to maintain the high levels of service and safety,” Turner said during the March 24 Roanoke City Council meeting.
From 2021 to 2025, Roanoke increased employee compensation by $32 million across the board, Turner said in a recent interview.
But even with an investment of that size, when budget season rolled around this past spring, about 15% of the city’s 1,643 full-time employees were not making what the city considers a living wage, according to employee compensation data Cardinal News obtained through a Virginia Freedom of Information Act request.
Turner, who became city manager in January, is implementing a two-year plan to bring all full-time city employees up to the $42,000 threshold that the city defines as a living wage. This does not include employees on a separate law enforcement pay plan.
The compensation increases that were a part of the first year of the plan — which either gives each affected employee a 3% raise or brings them halfway between their previous salary and $42,000 — began July 1.
The raises brought 85 employees over the $42,000 threshold, which is what the city determined to be the cost of living for an average employee. Another 159 are still not making $42,000, according to city data.
These employees work in client services, maintenance, solid waste and the libraries, and as account technicians, administrative assistants, collections inspectors and account clerks among other positions.
“The goal is, we don’t want anyone living in poverty in the city,” Mayor Joe Cobb said. “But our commitment is to our city employees, and so that’s why we’ve prioritized this.”
Earmarking money for compensation was done despite some other tough decisions made during the budget cycle. The city council cut $3.5 million in spending across the board, implemented a 1% increase in the meals tax for two years to help pay for deferred maintenance on city buildings, and provided the city school division with only level funding and not a requested budget increase.
Because the city was in a financially difficult spot this year, this year’s raises are just a start in a longer-term plan.
The 3% plan for this year, some initial council disapproval
The goal, Turner said, is a “multiyear, multipronged” approach, including a class and compensation study that she aims to begin in the fall. Turner said first, the city will wait for surrounding localities, like Roanoke County and Salem, to publish on their websites whether they are going to increase their base salaries and what their cost of livings are estimated at, so Roanoke can compare.
The city’s last compensation study was completed in 2022, Turner said, but by the time its findings were implemented, “we were already kind of out of date.”
This year, starting on July 1, all full-time employees received either a 3% raise or were bumped halfway to $42,000, whichever got them a greater salary.
“The 3% was a step in the right direction, as was attempting to bring everyone up to a livable wage. I think that’s the first step in an actual plan,” Turner said.
The study and pay plan will also address compression, which is a large issue specifically for law enforcement and fire-EMS departments, which operate on their own pay plans. Compression happens when new employees are brought in at salary levels that are close to what more senior workers are making.
“At the same time we’re wanting to raise employee salaries across the board, we also don’t want to create more compression,” Cobb said in a June interview. “So for people that have been working for the city for a long time, who are still not making a living wage, that’s an equity issue.”
He said it’s important for all city employees to be making equitable compensation “at whatever level of employment they have or at whatever job they have.”
A few city employees received raises higher than 3% on July 1. The municipal auditor, Drew Harmon, and the city attorney, Tim Spencer, received 6% raises, bringing their annual salaries to $161,116 and $208,846, respectively. These positions fall under the supervision of the city council.
“We wanted to make sure those salary levels were commensurate with peer salaries in adjacent localities and we’re being competitive in the market,” Cobb said, “but also acknowledging and honoring the work of the people in those positions now.”
The 3% increase and pay plan required two separate votes by the council. In the first vote, on May 12, Peter Volosin and Vice Mayor Terry McGuire voted against the plan. Vivian Sanchez-Jones was absent from that meeting.
Volosin declined to comment on his vote after the meeting, but McGuire expressed concerns with “some of the levels of increases” via text later that evening.
On May 19, the council unanimously voted in favor of the plan.
“I don’t want to stand in the way,” McGuire said after that meeting. “I really care a lot about making sure that we take care of our employees. I think our city workers keep our city running.”
He said he still would have preferred that no raises exceeded 3%, that no 3% raises were given to “some high-earner senior level positions,” and that some supplemental payments had been trimmed back.
These “annual salary supplements” listed in the pay plan document range from $2,000 to $6,000 for city officials who are required to drive a car as a part of their roles.
Roanoke’s efforts are in line with surrounding localities
Roanoke’s efforts to increase compensation appear to be in line with surrounding localities. At the start of the current fiscal year on July 1, Roanoke County and Botetourt County also introduced 3% raises for municipal employees. Salem introduced 4% raises for its employees.
Multiple other localities also conduct compensation studies in order to compare with their neighbors. Roanoke County completed a pay study in 2019, and Salem in 2022. A Botetourt County spokesperson said the county conducts regular surveys to maintain competitive pay, and its latest study is in progress now.
Botetourt is also offering 1.5% longevity bonuses to full-time employees who have worked with the county for over a year.
Amy Whittaker, public information officer for Roanoke County, said the county will conduct a new compensation study late this summer. She said the county determines salary increases by comparing to inflation, cross-referencing retirement and benefits, and communicating with surrounding localities.
When looking at positions such as benefit program specialists, sanitation workers, library assistants, maintenance technicians and administrative assistants, Roanoke County pays slightly more than Roanoke. The county also has a median household income of about $83,000, compared to just under $53,000 in Roanoke, according to the most recent census data.
A maintenance technician in Roanoke County might make $51,000 annually, while the average maintenance technician in Roanoke makes $44,105.
The post Roanoke seeks to bring all city workers over $42K ‘living wage’ pay threshold appeared first on Cardinal News.
NEWSLETTER SIGNUP
Subscribe to our newsletter! Get updates on all the latest news in Virginia.
