In hopes of boosting morale for City of Laredo employees, City Council approved a one-time incentive to be added to their paychecks in late December.
Full-time city employees are to receive a one-time incentive of $250 added to their paychecks, and part-time employees are expected to receive half that at $125.
The item was brought up by District IV Councilmember Alberto Torres and supported by Mayor Pro Tempore and District V Councilmember Ruben Gutierrez, District I Councilmember Gilberto Gonzalez and District VII Councilmember Vanessa Perez.
“I am excited and happy that the City Council voted to provide our employees with a one-time incentive salary adjustment,” Torres said. “This helps boost employee morale as well as being able to provide a little something for our employees and their hard work, dedication and loyalty.”
Speaking of boosts, Torres hopes the incentive may give the local economy a small push during the holiday season.
“We also believe this incentive is crucial in letting the employees know the City of Laredo cares about them and values their work,” Torres said.
The incentive does not come out of the general funds. It comes out of payroll savings from unfilled city positions.
City of Laredo Budget Director Jesus Esparza gave a presentation on how much money was going to contribute to the incentive. Two options were displayed of an incentive worth $200 or of $250. They chose the latter, and in total will dip into the city’s savings as much as $661,027.
“Although this is something that wasn’t in the budget cycle, we feel due to payroll savings we have from different positions that haven’t been filled, there wouldn’t be an impact to the budget,” Torres said. “We can put that money to good use and incentivize the people who are actually working.”
The city council pushed the agenda forward, but not without some hesitation by District III Councilmember Melissa Cigarroa. She had preferred an incentive based on merit, and she pointed out the potential issue of perception suggesting a bonus during an election year.
“Giving extra money to employees and how it can be perceived as trying to influence the elections in the coming year, item’s like this deter the city’s ability to look into merit-based raises,” Cigarroa said.
Cigarroa said merit-based raises incentivize good work and recognize an employee’s efforts.
Torres said it would not be a Christmas bonus or any kind of incentive for the political season as he is not capable of seeking reelection. He also added how the merit-based incentives may create a more hostile work environment.
“Based on merit, we’ve tried it once and it didn’t work and it created more problems for the city,” Torres said.
Torres did not completely throw away the idea of merit-based pay and that it can be brought back, but due to his negative experience with it, he supports one-time incentives.
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