Hillsboro City Council continues pay ordinance discussions

Hillsboro City Council continued discussions of a now-revised ordinance to adjust compensation for non-union city employees during their Thursday, Oct. 16 meeting.

For more from Thursday’s meeting — including regarding the hiring via contract of Greenfield attorney Hannah Bivens to serve as city law director, and regarding city auditor Dawson Barreras repeatedly calling two council members “shameful” following a failed attempt at suspending the three-reading rule for an ordinance regarding the safety and service director’s residency — see the story at https://highlandcountypress.com/news/hillsboro-contracts-bivens-law-dir….

Council heard the second reading of the proposed pay ordinance Thursday, with finance committee chair Mary Stanforth outlining its changes from the first reading in September.

As previously reported, after a nearly hourlong executive session, council members voted to revise the city’s pay ordinance in June. That pay ordinance revision added or revised several positions and their salary or wage ranges. The legislation was vetoed by Mayor Justin Harsha, but council overturned the mayoral veto at their August meeting.

An ordinance to adjust compensation for non-union city employees was then introduced in September. Instead of listing each position with either a salary range or pay rate range, this version of the ordinance has a pay scale, for grades 1-8, and a breakdown of which positions fall under each grade.

According to Stanforth, the finance committee met Oct. 9 to review, and revise, the proposed ordinance.

“Additional positions were added to the study,” she said. “They were WWTP/WTP operator class III, equipment operator and director of victims’ rights. An amended ordinance was passed out that added a part-time pay scale based on a 32-hour work week. It also included descriptions for part-time employees and full-time employees serving in a part-time position. Seasonal help will be hired under the state of Ohio's minimum pay scale. 

“According to the study, there are 13 positions under the baseline of 90 percent, and it would cost the city $22,279.05 to bring them up to the minimum rate.”

The revised ordinance has the WWTP/WTP operator class III position listed in Grade 6, along with the assistant prosecuting attorney, assistant law director and tax administrator. The minimum pay would be $29.64/hour, middle would be $35.56/hour and maximum would be $41.49/hour.

The equipment operator position is in Grade 3, along with the administrative assistant for the police department, deputy tax administrator and deputy auditor I. The minimum pay would be $22.47/hour, middle would be $26.96/hour and maximum would be $31.46/hour.

The director of victims’ rights position is in Grade 2, along with the code enforcement official, paralegal, equipment operator, parks and recreation laborer, public works laborer, administrative assistant II/building department and utility office clerk. The minimum pay would be $21/hour, middle would be $25.20/hour and maximum would be $29.40/hour. 

The revised ordinance has a part-time pay scale based on a 32-hour work week for grades one through eight, which are for both part-time non-union employees or for full-time employees who accept additional duties in a part-time non-unison classification.

As proposed, part-time employees are eligible for cost-of-living and merit-based raises at the same rate as full-time employees, but they are not eligible for benefits provided to full-time employees.

For full-time employees who accept a second part-time role, the proposed ordinance says that “such dual assignments must be approved in writing” by a supervisor and that “compensation for thee additional role shall be prorated based on hours actually worked in the part-time position and subject to budgetary availability.”

Regarding the $22,279.05 required to bring employees up to the minimum rate, Barreras referenced this in a financial report earlier in the meeting where he implied voting against the ordinance means council “undervalues” city employees.

“Our robust financial position allows us to invest in our most valuable asset, our employees,” Barreras said. “Based on the comprehensive wage study conducted by a reputable law firm, we have the fiscal capacity to raise employee wages to align with the recommended standards. 

“This adjustment is not just financially feasible, but essential to fairly compensate our dedicated workforce. To oppose this raise is to undervalue the very people who keep our city running.”

An ordinance to adjust the salary of the city auditor also had its second reading Thursday, with no revisions. If enacted, this ordinance would raise the city auditor’s salary to $64,240.66 starting in 2026.

An ordinance amending section 39.35 of the codified ordinances of the City of Hillsboro pertaining to the disposition of human remains had its second reading as well.

The only ordinances passed Thursday were two items related to supplemental appropriations, which do not require three readings.

Council approved an ordinance for the appropriation of $10,719.20 for the reimbursement of the school resource officer at Hillsboro City Schools and an ordinance for the appropriation of $17,500 for an insurance reimbursement for a K-9 officer.

“Is it a vehicle or a dog?” Brown asked.

“It is a dog,” Barreras said. 

“So we got insurance for a dog?” Brown asked.

“Absolutely,” Barreras said. “It’s a $15,000 dog, so, yup.”

The rest of the meeting was dedicated to various reports, including the aforementioned financial report given by the city auditor.

At the beginning of the meeting, Barreras asked to address council regarding a six-year financial forecast, covering 2024-2029, which he prepared and distributed to council Thursday. The report also included the city’s 2023 audited financial statements.

“These [2023] statements reflect a year of resilience, strategic management and positive growth, positioning us well for the challenges and opportunities ahead,” Barreras said. “As of December 31, 2023, the city's net position reached $52.9 million, an increase of almost $5 million from the prior year. This growth is a testament to our collective efforts.

“Our total assets stood at $72.3 million, comprising $17.4 million in current and other assets like cash and receivables, and $54.8 million in net capital assets, including infrastructure and equipment.”

Barerras reviewed various categories under Hillsboro’s net position based off 2023 financial statements.

“In closing, Hillsboro finances are very strong, with increased net position, healthy reserves and a focus on sustainability,” Barreras said.

One hour before council’s regular meeting, the Hillsboro Finance Committee also met with Barreras to review preliminary numbers for the 2026 budget. Although legislation for the budget has not been prepared yet, Barreras said “serious cuts” are being made from the $26.6 million total budget of 2025.

“We've actually got it about $850,000 less than last year's budget,” Barreras said.

Barreras said the overall budget will be roughly $25.7 million, of which $6 million is grant funding, and he is currently expecting an approximate $1.9 million carryover.

According to the auditor’s discussions with the finance committee, the 2026 budget will include 30-percent utility increases, three-percent health insurance increases and “topped out” wages. Safety and service director Shawn Adkins said that the city is hoping to offset utility cost increases, which he said could actually be up to 50 percent, by joining the city’s aggregation plan. 

The building inspection line item also “jumped from $10,000” to $96,300 due to the city contracting with Warren County’s building department.  

“We’re actually saving money,” Barreras said. “I think we were paying our prior inspector about 125 grand a year.”

The auditor said there is “a whole lot of money” budgeted for the recreation fund, both due to their grant funding and to help fund the parks department. When asked by Stanforth if the parks department was “self-sufficient this year,” Adkins said “most definitely not,” although he did point out that the city invested a lot of money in the parks as well. Barreras offered to provide reports on parks revenues for the committee. 

However, Barreras said the department heads didn’t have “any crazy wishes this year,” and the city has fewer “big expenses” anticipated compared to 2025.

Finance committee members asked about several other line items, with Stanforth asking about paving plans for 2025. Barreras said they are budgeting for “about $700,000 worth” of paving.

“We are actually working with our engineer,” Adkins said. “We're working on new GIS [Geographic Information System], and we're going to go out and shoot all of our streets and prioritize the worst ones.”

Committee member Greg Maurer asked about the storm sewer maintenance/repair line item, which he said “jumped almost $300,000” to $851,000 in 2025. Adkins said the city has “some stuff planned in house,” including work on storm sewers associated with the Rails to Trails project and various catch basins.

Stanforth asked about wastewater for 2026, and Barreras said the city is awaiting “a projected forecast on the future of the storm sewer” by an outside firm.

“We’re having flood monitoring done right throughout the city to figure out where we need to spend money to fix inflow,” Adkins added.

Maurer also asked about “significant cuts” to line items in the water and sewer funds and whether that means the city is “done” with line work.

“We've done, like, 14 years of work on the storm sewer, so I don't have the money coming in to do much more storm sewer to make the payments, so it's kind of at a standstill,” Adkins said. “I had [engineer] Gary Silcott apply for a grant to replace sanitary sewer private laterals. I haven't heard anything back from that yet.”

Adkins told the committee that because the city is “financially stable,” as Barreras said, “it’s hurting our grant” applications as the city does not demonstrate the need that other communities do.

“It might be a thing that in the coming year, in some of these projects that we need to do in the city, maybe we ought to double down and spend the money ourselves and get some of these things done, and get ourselves in a position that the grants are a little bit easier for us to get,” Harsha said. “I mean, we've been very, very fortunate — very fortunate — especially over the last four or five years, but that is a thing that they look at. We’re fortunate to have that kind of money in the bank. That’s amazing.” 

Adkins also told the finance committee that the budget numbers could change if and when the city receives a cost estimate for work at the intersection of state Route 73 and Fenner Avenue. 

“That might be something I would bring to you, just to see if you're interested in following through with it,” Adkins said.

In other reports:

• During the safety and service director’s report, Adkins announced that Beech and Railroad Street construction is reaching its end, while Crossroads Park construction is set to begin.

“They started moving in equipment this week,” Adkins said. 

A new parking lot to benefit the uptown area is currently under construction on North High Street, with paving complete and striping to be done within the next week, while the Rails to Trails project construction will also be “starting shortly,” Adkins told council.

Road work is also targeted to begin this week on Harry Sauner Road (paving)     and U.S. 62 North.

“ODOT will be doing a bridge repair on 62 North, just past the water plant, starting on the 27th of this month, so there's going to be some traffic delays,” Adkins said. “They're going to try to do one lane open and keep traffic moving that way.”

For economic development, Adkins said Aldi will be opening soon (Oct. 23), while Amazon’s new facility is making quick progress and Glo Fiber is connecting homes in the area. Adkins also reported that there were 13 commercial and eight residential building permits issued by the city in September.

The Hillsboro Planning Commission voted to deny a zoning request and to approve two rezoning requests at their most recent meeting, according to Adkins.

• Civil service and employee relations chair Dan Baucher said that his committee met Sept. 24 to review the city’s policy and procedure manual.

“Shawn Adkins highlighted the proposed changes to the committee,” Baucher said. “They included probation policy, sick leave policy, personal time policy, vacation policy and the insurance policy.”

The committee voted unanimously to send the revisions on to council, with legislation anticipated to be introduced in November, according to Bivens.

• Street and safety committee chair Adam Wilkin said that his committee met Sept. 23 and recommended their previously discussed proposed expansion of the city’s DORA [Designated Outdoor Refreshment Area] be presented to full council in new legislation.

“When we discussed this before, we agreed that we wanted to expand the DORA district to include The Porch restaurant, Railroad Street, Railroad Street Park, along with Beech Street connecting Crossroads Park,” Wilkin said. “The delay was because we were waiting for the construction [on Beech and Railroad streets] to be completed to make it safe for people to get around.”

• Kelly Faas, field representative for U.S. Representative David Taylor, introduced herself to city council and discussed ways Taylor’s office can assist local residents.

“We help anyone who calls with problems with any federal agency, so FEMA, Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, all those things,” Faas said. “We have connections in all the agencies and help the best we can. If you're going to Washington D.C., we can help get tickets to tour the White House or the Capitol or things like that. If someone in the community has really done something spectacular, we can get a flag that has flown over the Capitol for them to present. 

“If you have a student who may be wanting to go into the military, we can help with that process. There's just all kinds of things that our office can help with. Don't hesitate to reach out.”

• During citizens’ comments, Ali Saeidi said that he has built several new houses in the city and is interested purchasing and building a new development with “six to eight new houses” on John Street. He questioned whether the city would grant alley access before he proceeds with building a new “subdivision” in the area. Eichinger referred Saeidi to the Hillsboro Planning Commission.

• Under communications, it was noted that the city has received two letters in the past month from residents seeking adjustments to their water bills, both of which exceeded $700. 

As such letters are becoming an almost monthly occurrence, Eichinger said “we’re looking into exactly how that needs to be handled, and we’ll get back to council as soon as that’s figured out.”

Publisher's note: A free press is critical to having well-informed voters and citizens. While some news organizations opt for paid websites or costly paywalls, The Highland County Press has maintained a free newspaper and website for the last 26 years for our community. If you would like to contribute to this service, it would be greatly appreciated. Donations may be made to: The Highland County Press, P.O. Box 849, Hillsboro, Ohio 45133. Please include "for website" on the memo line.