Dupage Policy Journal

At its Nov. 1 meeting, the Batavia Committee of the Whole voted 11 to 1 to approve a series of raises for non-collective bargained employees.

Prior to the vote, director of Human Resources Wendy Bednarek outlined her proposal for raises.

“Currently at this point, we would be recommending a modest 4% cost-of-living increase to our wages and salaries,” Bednarek said.

Bednarek explained the city keeps an eye on the cost of living and inflation throughout the year and tries to reflect the costs in the wages of city employees. She said in the past year the Consumer Price Index has gone above 8%, and she has seen an overall cost-of-living increase of about 4%. She also reported increases in Social Security taxes.

In her proposal, Bednarek recommended a 4% increase in wage for city employees. She also recommended a few position changes in the city that moved people to new pay levels based on their additional responsibilities in the past few months.

She also proposed a small increase in the battalion chief’s holiday bonus. The chief doesn’t receive special holiday pay so the city gives him this bonus for working on holidays. Fire department members will also see a wage increase of 4% to match the change in the rest of the city.