Goshen city government employees to receive $500 year-end bonus

Dec. 6—GOSHEN — Most Goshen city government employees will receive a $500 year-end bonus following action by the Goshen City Council Monday evening.

During the meeting, the council's members voted unanimously to approve a request by Goshen Mayor Jeremy Stutsman to issue a special $500 bonus for most non-elected city employees in recognition of the extra burdens and work stress placed on them as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic and increasing inflation costs.

"As we came out of 2020 and worked through both 2021 and 2022, one thing has become clearer: The results of the pandemic have affected our economy and our community's workforce availability," Stutsman said in a statement to council members. "Pre-2020 we were in a better position to compete with private sector wages; all departments saw brief periods throughout the year that would allow for some staff downtime, which in turn gave us time to catch up on secondary priorities, projects and planning and we had more reasonable workloads.

"As our economy continues to move forward, department workloads have not diminished," he added. "Over the last two years, our business and residential communities have been working fast to recover, which is keeping our staff jumping from one project to the next. They have been helping keep the private sector moving as quickly as possible. I am not aware of any departments in the city of Goshen experiencing any type of a break in the high workload or any time that could be considered downtime."

Additionally, Stutsman mentioned the impact of rising inflation on the city's staff over the past year and a half.

"Inflation has reached historic highs, hitting 7.7% year-over-year in October," Stutsman said. "Unfortunately, we should not expect relief anytime soon. The rising cost of goods will further erode staff wages. For these reasons, I am requesting the authorization through city ordinance to issue a year-end bonus of $500 per full-time staff member and a prorated amount for our permanent part-time staff."

To qualify for the bonus, city employees must have been actively employed as of Dec. 5; must fill a position that is regularly scheduled to work at least 20 hours per week, or 1,040 hours per year; and must not be filling a temporary, intermittent or seasonal position.

Full-time employees who work a typical 40-hour week, or at least 2,080 hours per year, will receive the full $500 bonus, while permanent part-time staff who fill positions that are regularly scheduled to work at least 20 hours per week, or at least 1,040 hours per year, will earn a $350 bonus.

According to Stutsman, Goshen city government currently employs 266 full-time staff and 12 permanent part-time staff, which would bring the total cost of the year-end bonus to just under $140,000.

"This will not take an additional appropriation because we have the money in the budget we can move around," Stutsman noted. "We have this money available due to the efficiencies and conservative use of our budget by the city staff. No elected official will receive this bonus.

"The plain and simple: our departments and staff are continually checking projects off, they are getting great things done for our community, and they all are overloaded with their to-do lists," he added. "I am grateful for our staff and the consistent dedication they show in their jobs. Please join me in supporting their efforts and saying thank you with this year-end bonus. I do not plan on this becoming a yearly request."

For his part, council member Brett Weddell, R-At Large, thanked the mayor for putting the suggestion forward.

"I think that in every position, whether it's city government or private industry, you like to show appreciation toward your staff," Weddell said. "I think it goes a long way for morale. It's a significant amount of money, and I think it lets the staff know that you appreciate the work they're doing. So, thank you for suggesting it."

Council member Julia King, D-At Large, offered a similar sentiment when voicing her support for the request.

"Thank you for looking out for staff," she said.

In the end, the remainder of the council's members agreed, and the requested year-end bonus was approved unanimously.

John Kline can be reached at john.kline@goshennews.com or 574-533-2151, ext. 240315. Follow John on Twitter @jkline_TGN.