ALTUS – Three elected city employees will receive pay hikes after the next election for those positions, Mayor Robert Garrison said.
Altus City Council on Tuesday accepted the salary increase recommendations from a committee formed by the mayor. The committee was comprised of Mayor Garrison and councilmen John Womack and Ronald Osterhout.
The raises will go to the street commissioner, police chief and city clerk; however, the incumbents will not receive those increases until they are re-elected or until someone else is elected to those positions. Any salary increase for the police chief and street commissioner would be awarded after the winner of the 2023 election takes the oath of office in April. The city clerk would not be eligible for the raise until after the 2024 election since she is in the middle of a new four-year term. Debbie Davis was re-elected as city clerk last year.
Altus is one of a handful of cities that require their police chief and street commissioner to be elected. The city clerk must also be elected by Altus residents, but several other cities have that requirement.
Tim Murphy serves as police chief; Davis is the clerk and treasurer, and Chad Osborne is the street commissioner. Murphy currently earns $80,995 a year while Osborne is paid $77,147 and Davis makes $58,084 annually. Davis will not seek another term as city clerk, Garrison said.
The police chief’s salary will increase to $95,000, while the street commissioner’s annual pay has been placed at $83,000 and the new city clerk will make $63,000, City Manager Gary Jones said.
The committee examined the salaries of other similar-sized cities and arrived at an average that “gets us up to that point,” Garrison said. The mayor said the pay hikes are fair and equitable and won’t place a burden on the city budget.
“It’s been a long time since they had an increase,” the mayor said. “We were trying to do it for the city clerk because she had never had one. Previous councils wouldn’t listen to giving them a raise.”
The elected employees and all council members appeared pleased with the committee’s recommendation and final approval.
“I think everybody was happy with it,” Garrison said.