Colfax employees receive 6 percent pay raise, with police dept. receiving larger increases
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By LeAnn R. Ralph
COLFAX — The Colfax Village Board awarded a 6 percent pay increase to village employees along with larger pay increases for the police department following a closed session meeting December 4 that lasted more than five hours.
The closed session meeting began at 6 p.m. and adjourned after 11 p.m.
The village board used the Consumer Price Index rate of inflation at 3.2 percent while considering raises, said Lynn Niggemann, village administrator-clerk-treasurer.
Employees in the public works department each received a 6 percent pay increase, she said.
Rand Bates, director of public works, received an additional 50 cents per hour because he was required to obtain a state Department of Natural Resources license certification for wastewater, Niggemann said.
Emergency Medical Technicians received a pay increase in September, she said.
The Colfax Village Board also approved a 6 percent pay increase for the administrator-clerk-treasurer and the deputy clerk treasurer, Niggemann said.
Police dept.
Colfax Police Chief William Anderson provided a wage study to the village board that compares full-time police patrol wages.
The wage study included 107 different agencies, Niggemann said, noting that the source for the wage study was not identified.
Agencies on the wage study included local police, county sheriffs’ deputies, jailers, dispatchers and the Wisconsin State Patrol, she said.
Out of the 107 agencies, Colfax ranked at 105 at the bottom of the list, Niggemann said.
First on the list was Fitchburg, with a starting wage of $33.79 per hour, and a maximum wage of $43.02 per hour, she said.
Fitchburg is located just south of Madison.
Colfax has a starting wage of $22 per hour and $22.50 with a night differential, Niggemann said.
The Colfax Village Board approved a pay increase of $4 per hour based on the information provided in the wage study, she said.
The pay increase will go into effect for the 2024 budget.
Police chief
The police chief also contacted five police chiefs in this area for wage information, Niggemann said.
The wages for police chiefs ranged from $33 per hour to $37.56 per hour, she said.
The Colfax police chief is being paid $28.15 per hour this year under the 2023 budget.
The police chief also provided job postings for open police chief positions, with three of the agencies listed with a population of 1,467 to 1,485, Niggemann said.
Cornell pays the police chief a starting wage of $30.04 to $34.61 per hour; Bonduel pays $31.25 to $38.46 per hour; and Cleveland pays $30 to $40 per hour, she said.
Cornell is east of Bloomer in Chippewa County.
Bonduel is on the eastern side of the state northwest of Green Bay, while Cleveland is located on the far east side of the state along Lake Michigan and north of Sheboygan.
The Colfax Village Board approved a $5 per hour raise for the police chief, going from $28.15 to $33.15, Niggemann said.
The Village of Colfax budget for 2024, for which the village board held a public hearing and then approved the budget and property tax levy at a meeting Thursday evening, December 7, had been adjusted to reflect the wage increases.