The Kalamazoo City Commission has granted raises to four top city officials.
City Clerk Scott Borling, City Manager Jim Ritsema and Internal Auditor Ann Videtich will receive a salary increase at about the same rate city non-bargaining employees got this year. That amounts to a step up in pay grade, a one-percent salary increase and a onetime payment.
Kalamazoo City Attorney Clyde Robinson will get a five percent salary increase plus a lump sum. Mayor Bobby Hopewell says Robinson’s pay had fallen behind that of other cities.
“And we came up with, this would be the most reasonable thing to do to bring the city attorney into a level of comparables as other communities,” Hopewell said at a commission meeting Monday night.
Commissioner Jack Urban says the raises are worth it if they help the city keep its top staff.
“There’s a great loss when someone leaves and we have to replace them. There’s a long learning curve, probably at least a year or two, for many of these high level jobs. And that costs the city in terms of performance when we have to replace them,” Urban told the commission.
The internal auditor will earn about $64,000 a year; the city clerk, about $71,000; the city attorney, about $116,000 and the city manager about $138,000.
