WARSAW — Jennifer Whitaker, director of human resources, presented two salary related ordinances during the Warsaw Common Council meeting held last night, Dec. 4.

The first ordinance presented was the Elected Official 2018 Salary Ordinance. Mayor Joseph Thallemer will be earning $2,701.24 biweekly, Clerk-Treasurer Lynne Christiansen will be earning $2,366.83 biweekly and common council members will be earning $6,203 annually.

Additional compensation was calculated per month for the board of public works and safety and per meeting for the plan commission, fire territory board and traffic commission. The ordinance also outlined insurance benefits, cell phone allowance and take home vehicles for certain employees. The council approved the ordinance as presented  6-1 with Ron Shoemaker opposing.

The second ordinance presented was to amend the 2018 general and fire salary ordinance. The amendment was to establish a base pay for pension purposes required by the state. The council approved the ordinance and suspended the rules for a second reading.

The council then took time to publicly thank Whitaker and the wage committee for their hard work the past few years. A wage committee was established to study the pay of city employees and ensure the wages are competitive in the job market and fair across all departments.

“This is one of the biggest pieces of our city budget, this really matters,” stressed council member Mike Klondaris.

Council member Jack Wilhite also serves on the wage committee. “It’s been hard work, but it’s probably going to get easier going forward,” said Wilhite. “It’s continually moving, but the heavy lifting is done.”