Most Highland town employees and elected officials will get a pay raise next year. The 2025 salary ordinance adopted by the town council Monday will give most town employees a three-percent increase.
In the police department, some lower-ranking officers were set to be excluded from raises, others will get a three-percent increase, and corporals and above will get a five-percent raise.
Clerk-Treasurer Mark Herak said the goal is to widen the difference between higher- and lower-ranking officers. "That gap keeps getting narrower and narrower and narrower, and so you get an officer saying, 'Well, why do I want to be in a position of command or authority as a sergeant or corporal when first-class [officers] are making more than I am?' and sometimes with the overtime, they make more than the chief makes," Herak told council members.
The council also approved a boost to employees' longevity pay. Those are additional payments for those who've worked for the town for certain amounts of time.
Council members also approved a measure letting Michael Pipta continue serving as a paid-on-call interim fire chief in 2025, until the council selects a full-time chief. Meanwhile, ordinances to increase firefighters' clothing and car allowance and give them a one-time appreciation bonus will be up for final approval in January.
