The city began conducting a market study in August of 2021 to look at how competitive the city is compared to surrounding communities. The study showed that, across the board, the City of Wilmington employees are underpaid.
Fearing the loss of more employees — and trying to fill the city’s many vacancies — staff recommended giving employees those raises sooner, instead of waiting for the new fiscal year, which starts this July.
Wilmington's firefighters were 14% below market, police were 13% below, hourly employees were 9% below, and salary employees were 8% below market.
Mayor Bill Saffo voted in favor of the raise, along with the rest of the council.
“We would also want to say thank you to all of the employees that make this city what it is. We appreciate all of your hard work and I hope that you recognize that we appreciate you folks,” he said.
Staff will see their raises beginning with the March 28 pay period.
