Pahrump Town non-union staff pay increase approved

Nye County commissioners recently voted to approve cost raises for non-union employees in the Town of Pahrump.

The town's budget approved in May included a 4 percent cost of living increase for non-union employees, which matches with the 4 percent increase for union employees guaranteed as part of their contract, according to the town board memo for the fiscal year 2016 provided by town finance manager Michael Sullivan.

"This is an item that mirrors the action that will be in a collective bargaining unit for the firefighters," County Manager Pam Webster said. "In the past, town action has been to keep the office staff in line with those increases."

The existing salary and benefits for non-union employees is over $1.6 million and the increase will be $53,500 including salaries including benefits, Webster said. Fire department is not included in increases, she said.

The increase covers 20 staff members who aren't members of a collective bargaining unit, and is equivalent to the 4 percent increase for the Pahrump Valley Fire and Rescue employees who are represented by the International Association of Firefighters, which covers approximately 27 firefighters.

"They don't have a structure that gives a step, a merit increase every year, and it's been some time since they've had an adjustment," Webster said.

Webster said said work needs to be done on the firefighters' pay ranges.

"There needs to be an adjustment to those ranges, they haven't kept current with any adjustments that they have done," she said. "There's not this automatic step increase annually that would equate to a merit increase."

The ratification of approval was required so that the necessary paperwork for individuals could be filed with the county payroll department and effective for the first payroll of fiscal year 2016, which began July 1. Webster said the employees have been held back on increases for a few years.

The fiscal year 2016 final budget was approved by Nye County commissioners and submitted to the state Department of Taxation.

Based on the current revenue projections, there are sufficient funds available to provide both increases provided under the third year of the collective bargaining agreement, officials said.