Most city department heads would get 3 percent raises in the coming fiscal year under recommendations made by the Honolulu Salary Commission last week.
The only city officials who would get larger raises would be the police chief and deputy chiefs, who would receive 5.5 percent raises, and the fire chief and his deputy, who would get 4 percent raises.
The medical examiner and deputy medical examiner, which were the only positions to get raises this year, are not being recommended for raises this time around; nor is the Royal Hawaiian Band director.
The commission voted 6-0 Tuesday, with one member absent, to preliminarily approve the recommendations. If given final approval, the proposals will go to the City Council, which will have the final say as part of its budget deliberations.
Commission Chairman Jim Donovan said the raises are being supported because most of those under the plan have not had an increase in four or more years.
"We just felt it was appropriate for them to receive a modest increase," said Donovan, who is also athletic director at the University of Hawaii. "We recognize a lot of people around town haven’t received raises because the economy has been bad, but we thought after four-plus years a modest increase was reasonable."
The police and fire chiefs would get bigger raises because some of their top subordinates are paid more because their pay is tied to collective bargaining agreements, Donovan said. The assistant police chiefs, for instance, are making $12,000 or more than the higher-ranking deputies, he said.
Officials with the Police and Fire departments recommended the raises for the chiefs, citing the need to avoid a financial penalty for being promoted to the top levels of their departments.
Donovan said he has been told that even with raises, at least one subordinate in each department would earn more than the executives.
One person not getting a raise is Mayor Peter Carlisle, who cited budget concerns in testifying against any increases for either himself or department heads. Donovan said the commission wanted to respect the mayor’s wishes.
