The Pekin City Council has a new document that will help it decide how much to pay non-union city employees.
"Think of it as a roadmap," said City Manager John Dossey.
That roadmap containing the results of a salary study was adopted by the council in a narrow 4-3 vote at its latest meeting.
Florida-based MGT of America Consulting, using data including comparable communities and input from Pekin non-union employees and leadership, came up with 11 pay grades covering 40 positions, and revised job descriptions for those 40 positions.
"The study was needed," said Mayor Mary Burress. "The can was kicked down the road far too long."
It's hoped the study will help the city fill key positions after they've been vacated in a reasonable amount of time, unlike what happened from 2022-25.
The finance director position went unfilled for 11 months, and the city manager and human resources positions were not filled for 10 months during that stretch.
The city engineer, assistant city engineer and risk manager positions that opened during that time have not been filled.
City employees in some positions are paid under their suggested salary range, according to the study.
Each salary raise needs to fit into the city budget, and many need to be approved by the council, Dossey said.
Karen Hohimer, John Abel and Peg Phillips joined Burress in voting to adopt the salary study.
"The pay ranges are reasonable," Phillips said. "Our job is to hire and keep good employees."
Hohimer said not keeping good employees "creates a revolving door where you have to spend a lot of money constantly training people."
Rick Hilst, Jake Fletcher and Dave Nutter voted against adopting the salary study.
"I think our [non-union] employees already have a fruitful salary and benefits plan," Hilst said.
Here are the 11 pay grades in the salary study, with salary ranges and the positions they cover:
11 – City manager: $145,500-$203,700.
10 – Public works director, police chief, fire chief, finance director, assistant city manager, building and development director, human resources director: $114,950-$160,930.
9 – City engineer, deputy police chief, economic development director, IT manager: $104,500-$146,300.
8 – Assistant city engineer, city clerk, operations supervisor, police lieutenant, wastewater treatment plant manager: $89,843-$125,780.
7 – Assistant finance director, public property supervisor, social worker: $81,675-$114,345.
6 – Community Development Block Grant [CDBG] program manager, code enforcement supervisor: $74,250-$103,950.
5 – Airport operations manager, police records administrator manager, senior accountant: $67,500-$94,500.
4 – Lead Human Resources [HR] coordinator, network administrator, network support administrator, wastewater billing supervisor, deputy building official: $63,223-$88,512.
3 – Engineering technician, executive assistant, HR risk coordinator, junior accountant: $57,475-$80,465.
2 – Deputy city clerk, public works office associate: $52,250-$73,150.
1 – Administrative assistant, $47,500-$66,500.
Sushi food trailer, auto repair shop approved
In other actions at the meeting, council approved:
• a special use permit for Katana Hibachi & Sushi to operate an open-front, walk-up food trailer at 1201 N. 8th Street. The property was most recently a used auto dealership. The Zoning Board of Appeals [ZBA] unanimously recommended approval of the special use;
• a special use permit for Pekin Alignment & Autobody to operate an auto repair shop with short-term auto storage at 716 Court Street. The property has been an auto repair site for years. The ZBA unanimously recommended approval of the special use;
• a site plan for Epic Pharma Solutions' new building and parking lots at 405 Hanna Drive. This is a two-phase project; the site plan includes both phases. ADA parking spaces will be provided, along with accessible routes to the building;
• a site plan for the Center for Prevention of Abuse's new building, parking lot and sidewalk at 121 S. 2nd Street. The new sidewalk will be ADA compliant, including a ramp at the corner of 2nd and Susannah. Two of the 28 parking spaces will be ADA compliant. The ZBA recommended approval of the site plan 5-0, with one abstention;
• extending JPG Commercial's 60-day due diligence period until the end of the year so it can continue talks with Menards regarding accessing the site of a planned retail development on Court Street through the Menards property;
• retaining the Illinois Municipal League [IML] Risk Management Association for the city's worker compensation and general liability insurance for 2026 at a cost of nearly $1.3 million that includes the city's IML dues;
• awarding low bidder Wiegand Plumbing of Goodfield a $16,000 contract to install a three-inch reduced pressure zone backflow prevention device at City Hall;
• adding $30,000 to low bidder Hoerr Construction of Goodfield's $97,250 contract for sewer lining projects in the 2025-26 fiscal year so more work can be done. Up to $250,000 is budgeted by the city for sewer lining projects;
• clarifying a recent change to the city's procurement policy that bans a company that is the subject of legal action from doing business with the city. A company now must be found guilty of charges to be disqualified;
• and, canceling the Dec. 22 council meeting.
Council votes on these items were unanimous except for the IML item. That vote was 6-1, with Nutter voting "no."
