Humboldt council members raised the base pay for city employees from $11.84 an hour to $15 an hour at their meeting Monday evening. The increase “puts us back into a place where the city is a viable option to earn a living wage,” said Paul Cloutier, council member. Increasingly, the city has been losing employees to better-paying jobs, said Cole Herder, city administrator, “for which I can’t blame them. I can’t blame anybody looking for work elsewhere to earn more money.” The city currently has five openings on its maintenance crew. Cloutier said the significant increase makes Humboldt competitive against not only local markets, but across the state.
Source: The Iola Register
