Tucson approves vacation bonuses for city employees

The one-time holiday bonuses, approved Tuesday, will cost the city about $5.4 million.

City Manager Tim Thomure’s recommendation, which the council approved, will provide $1,000 to full-time employees, $500 to “part-time and permanent” employees and $250 to non-permanent employees such as seasonal workers.

The bonuses, like the salary increases for municipal employees approved this summer, will not apply to elected officials, magistrates or electoral agents. They will go to city employees who were on payroll as of Dec. 1, Thomure said in a memo, with the goal of “ensuring that payments are made to employees before the Christmas and New Year holidays “.

The payments approved Tuesday represent the second half of $10.8 million set aside in the fiscal year 2024-25 budget for pay increases, which included a 1.5% salary increase this summer as part of a new compensation plan that also cost $5.4 million.

“I think it’s the right balance between doing something for employees and deploying the dollars that you authorized in this year’s budget, but in a fiscally responsible way that sets us up for success next fiscal year,” Thomure said.

Although the council approved the bonuses unanimously, council member Nikki Lee shared concerns she heard from city employees and union presidents who were “completely oblivious” to the point of the bonus. Tuesday’s council agenda.

Lee raised the question of whether the topic should be postponed until January, hoping to find a way to potentially implement another pay raise and bring more city employees into the conversation.

“As much as I want to make sure that people have money, extra money in their pockets during the holidays, I think about what I heard very recently, because people haven’t been involved in that part of the conversation that probably should be,” Lee said. “I feel like people would rather we wait and do this with input from employees and unions and look at it differently. »

Thomure said he called “the presidents of our four unions to discuss it in the weeks leading up to the formulation” of his recommendation. Pressed by Councilor Paul Cunningham, Thomure said he spoke with those union leaders “about two weeks ago.”

“They all opposed it and said they would much prefer a 1.5% salary adjustment, which I can’t recommend,” Thomure said.

Cunningham said he was concerned that city employees were “coming out of everything to object” because they weren’t aware, “and it totally happened, my phone was blowing up the whole morning,” he said.

“…I know that 1.5% (salary increase) is really important, especially for people thinking about their retirement and their long-term needs, but for people just starting out, the nice one-time distribution means much more, especially this time of year,” Cunningham said.

“And so here we are at the last minute, doing this dance and I’m not happy about it at all,” because such conversations should be happening well before two weeks, he said.