Editor's note: Updated at 7:38 a.m.
By BECKY KISER
Hays Post
One of the items discussed at length during the recent Hays City Commission retreat was the proposal for increasing city employee pay to at least $20 an hour.
Commissioner Reese Barrick said he was 'pretty passionate' about it.
During an earlier city work session, Barrick suggested the city should lead the way and encouraged local businesses to follow.
“If we want a community where everyone can participate and put money back into the community by shopping everywhere, then we have to pay people enough so they can participate. We can take care of the poverty level. It’s really a wage thing,” Barrick said at the recent work session.
A recent poverty analysis showed Hays has the highest poverty rate in the multi-county region at 18%. Another 23% were classified as Asset Limited, Income Constrained, Employed, or ALICE. These households are above the federal poverty level but cannot afford their county's basic cost of living. They do not qualify for public assistance.
"Forty percent of our Ellis County population is living paycheck to paycheck," Barrick said during the March 1 retreat.
"If we want people to live and stay in Hays, that's ($20 an hour) the bare minimum. It's a gross annual wage of $41,600.
"If we want the rest of the city to do it, we should do it. ...
"This would also mean better mental health for our residents when they're not stressed about what bill is coming up next.
"This is feasible, and I think it's the right thing to do," Barrick said.
LETTER: Response to City Commissioner Barrick's statement on business wages
Information provided by Erin Giebler, director of human resources, shows 20 of Hays' 183 full-time employees make less than $20 an hour, with wages ranging from $17.52 to $19.89 an hour.
The lower starting wage positions are in the offices of account clerk (finance), records clerk (police/courts), AP clerk (finance), administrative assistant (multiple), maintenance worker (multiple), plant operator (water resources), mechanic (public works), and community service officer (police).
Total compensation is not figured in the pay amount.
Giebler outlined four options for adjusting pay plans, each with pros and cons.
The increased cost would range from a high of more than $2 million annually if all 183 full-time employees' pay were increased by the same amount/percentage to a low annual cost of $85,000 if pay were adjusted only for those 20 employees making less than $20 an hour.
Giebler recommended option three, which would pay those who qualify $20 an hour and make minor adjustments to other employees' pay if necessary. The total annual cost would be $204,000.
"When we have done pay plan adjustments in the past, we used option three. ... While not always the popular choice among employees, it is the choice that helps reach $20 and is sustainable now and in the future," Giebler wrote in her information for commissioners.
She noted the changes would cause compression between pay raises and within pay ranges.
"Employees not given a pay increase may not feel they're being treated fairly," Giebler said.
"I'll deal with some grumbling of those who did not get a raise," said City Manager Toby Dougherty.
"We need to look at the total compensation package," said Mayor Sandy Jacobs, who ultimately declared herself against the proposal. "This is hard for me.
"You need to look at our vacation and sick leave policies," Jacobs said. "We offer a pretty good package. I think we're a great employer with good salaries and benefits.
Barrick said, "I love our total compensation package, but you're not able to spend all that at the store."
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Dougherty said the city has sometimes had difficulty hiring people for the lower paid positions.
"Would other businesses follow our lead?" asked Alaina Cunningham, commissioner. She said HaysMed recently increased its base pay for some positions to $14 an hour from $12 an hour.
"They may or may not," Barrick said, "but somebody has to take the lead." He talked about several restaurants in Seattle raising their wages, which "raised the bar everywhere."
Commissioner Shaun Musil, the former owner of Paisley Pear Wine Bar, Bistro and Market in downtown Hays, said, "I'm think you're going to hurt small businesses."
"We went up 15% on our prices to cover wage increases after McDonald's started paying more, and that hurt us," Musil said.
After considerable discussion, Mayor Jacobs tabled the issue.
"It's in a 'wait and see' hold for now," Jarrod Kuckelman, assistant city manager, said this week.
"There's a potential it may come up again for 2026 budget preparations or possibly another work session," he said.