City raises pay 5.9%

Iola Council members approved a cost of living adjustment for employees, mirroring the same increases Social Security recipients will receive next year. Next year's raise is the largest in the past 20 years.

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October 26, 2021 - 10:01 AM

Christmas came early for Iola city employees Monday night.

Council members approved a 5.9% cost of living adjustment to employee paychecks next year, mirroring the same increases Social Security recipients will receive next year.

The city traditionally has tied its COLA to the Social Security Index.

Next year’s raise is the largest in the past 20 years. The last time COLAs were north of 5% was in 2009, when raises were 5.8%.

While the raises are above what the Council planned when setting the 2022 budget earlier this year, with insurance premiums rising only about 1.3% next year, the city should have plenty of room to absorb the generous increase, City Administrator Matt Rehder explained.

In all, the city OK’d a 7% increase when accounting for higher benefits, too.

MOTORISTS who travel along South Washington Avenue will have to deal with gravel for a few months. The gravel is used to fill in the 10-block-long trench city crews cut into the street this summer as part of a water line replacement project.

Assistant City Administrator Corey Schinstock said the practice is to not put asphalt over the gravel for several months to give the rock plenty of time to settle.

The problem is, the Washington Avenue water line is farther out into the street than many would have liked.

“But it’s gonna be early spring before we lay any asphalt down,” Schinstock said.

Donna Houser talks to Iola Council members about the need to restore public toilet facilities installed during the Great Depression, when Eleanor Roosevelt pushed for better hygiene.Photo by Richard Luken

ELEANOR Roosevelt’s myriad accomplishments before and during her days as First Lady included an emphasis on hygiene.

In short, she pushed for more sanitary restrooms across the country, particularly when the United States was in the throes of the Great Depression.

Iolan Donna Houser explained to Council members why that’s important.

Eleanor-style public toilets — think of an outhouse with a ventilation system — were among the lesser-known, but still highly significant, outcomes of the Works Progress Administration effort across the country.

Iola has many WPA structures still in place, buildings and structures erected in the 1930s and 1940s, including the Recreation Community Building, football stadium and Iola Municipal Pool bathhouse.

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