Salaries frozen at current level by OC council

City Manager Dennis Dare (Feb. 6, 2009) There will be no pay raises for Ocean City employees in the coming year, as the City Council on Monday approved an across-the-board salary freeze for its general employees as a cost-saving measure.

Six days after City Manager Dennis Dare publicly recommended freezing all city salaries not governed by union contracts for the upcoming fiscal year, the council approved the request. In addition to eliminating the traditional 3 percent cost of living adjustment increase, the council also froze step increases and merit-based salary increases for a savings of $877,000.

"Merit increases are a substantial part of the annual increase in the budget," Dare said at Monday's council meeting as he renewed the request.

The cost-of-living increases were frozen for all general employees as well as those working under the firefighter/ paramedics contract, as Dare said that contract does not guarantee an annual COLA but says the union employees shall have the same increase as the general employees. Under the Fraternal Order of Police contract, those employees are guaranteed a 3 percent cost-of-living increase.

Dare said the COLA freeze would save the city $462,000 in the coming fiscal year — $391,000 from the general employees and $71,000 from the firefighter/ paramedics.

Ocean City employees are paid within a salary range, and typically receive what are known as step increases within that salary each year. Additionally, employees may receive merit-based increases.

The council's agreement to cancel step and merit increases this year will only affect the general employees. Both the FOP and firefighter/paramedic contracts require their members to receive annual step increases.

The step increase freeze will save the city an additional $415,000, Dare said.

"These are justly earned by the employees, but in this recession we're in, it's not something we're going to be able to afford this year," he said.

Dare said the city has discussed the possibility of asking the two unions to set aside their contractual increases in the spirit of helping out during the poor economic times. If that were to happen, he said it would save yet another $271,000, but at this point the city leaders have not made those requests and Dare would not say if they plan to or not.

There are other pay-related costs, such as a night shift differential and endof season bonuses, that Dare said could also be cut for the coming year, but no decisions have been made on these yet.

"I think these are things we can eliminate without severe consequences," he said.