Employees working for the city of Green River will receive a monetary thank you from the Green River City Council later this month.
The council voted unanimously to approve a tiered stipend for employees Tuesday night. Full-time employees will receive $1,200, while part-time employees with more than 1,000 hours worked during the year will receive $750, part-time employees with between 500 and 1,000 hours worked will receive $500 and employees with under 500 hours worked will receive $250.
Green River’s firefighters will receive $500 as will the city’s three appointed positions, the city administrator, city prosecutor and municipal court judge.
According to Councilman Gary Killpack, the tiered setup originated due to some employees being what he considered “full-time, part-time employees” saying some workers may not get a full full-time schedule, but come in regularly day after day. He said the Council believed those employees deserved to receive more.
“That’s why we broke it down to reward those part-time people,” he said.
The firefighters were originally set to receive $250 for their stipend, but Councilman Tom Murphy, who is a volunteer firefighter, argued they deserved more for the work they do and training hours they’re required to achieve. He was able to convince other Council members to raise the stipend to $500. Murphy will not receive the stipend, according to the city’s human resources director Cari Kragovich. She said Murphy’s city council duties are considered his main role for the city, not his volunteer firefighter duties. The Council is exempt from receiving the stipend, as they would have essentially voted themselves a bonus otherwise. City employees who serve on the volunteer fire department won’t receive two stipends either. The employees will receive a stipend based on their job and will be excluded from the stipend to firefighters.
The stipend will also go to the solid waste employees, who are eligible to receive a severance package and the start of the year after the city ends its solid waste division.
Councilman Ted Barney said the stipends were a way of rewarding employees, whom he said tremendously impressed him with their performance despite limited resources available to them.
Killpack agrees, saying employees have gone the extra mile despite money being tight.
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