By Andie Foley
andie.foley@salisburypost.com

KANNAPOLIS — On Monday, Aug. 27, the Kannapolis City Council will be presented findings from a preliminary salary study.

The study was recommended during this year’s budgeting process, as city staff debated adding additional employees across several city departments. The debate followed concerns raised by members of the city’s police department, who voiced worry that their pay rates were not competitive enough to retain and attract a complete force.

Using data from the 2017 North Carolina County Salary Report, city staff has compared Kannapolis’ salaries with those from Cabarrus County, Concord, Huntersville, Iredell County, Mooresville, Salisbury and Statesville.

Staff members will present their findings on Monday night at 6 p.m.

The study found that Kannapolis’ 373 full-time equivalent employees are found in pay grades ranging from 60 to 88, or with minimum median salaries of $25,075 to $91,227.

These minimums are slightly lower than area benchmarks.

On Monday, staff will recommend that the council postpone the addition of new employees in favor of offering all employees a 1.26-percent salary increase.

The salary increase will cost the city $207,875, whereas the additional employees would have cost $432,994.

In other business from Monday’s agenda:

• The council will receive an update from the Concord/Kannapolis Area Transit or Rider system.
• The council will hold two public hearing concerning the anticipated financing for the downtown sports and entertainment venue.

The first hearing is the first step in the debt issuance process for the venue, and will be a presentation of the plan with no action required. The city plans to use the city hall as collateral on the loan, with a principal amount of the project not to exceed $52 million.

The second hearing would adopt a resolution allowing city staff to apply to the North Carolina Local Government Commission to issue the proposed debt. The resolution will also allow staff to execute the financing in accordance with applicable laws and approve a financing team.

• The council will hear a report on the potential annexation of the Fishertown annexation, including procedures, timeline and costs to residents and property owners.
• The council will determine the location for a digital sign to be used by the city for announcement and to publicize events and activities.