HUTCHINSON, Kan. — With the start of the next budget, the city of Hutchinson will fully implement a merit-based pay scale. City Manager John Deardoff says they started work several years ago to put a system in place in which all employees will be evaluated before any possible merit pay increase. “We are now on a true merit-based performance system where we will basically have a minimum and maximum. We’ve customized performance appraisal tools for each department,” City Manager John Deardoff said. “Employees are evaluated, those evaluations are reviewed and employees will receive raises based on their performance.”

Deardoff says the new merit pool will give employees incentive to work harder. He also says that department heads will need to offer true accounts of why an employee deserves a merit increase in pay. “One of the things we’re working hard on with our supervisors is that if you do rate somebody in the exceed category, you’ve got to have good documentation to show that they do exceed . . . that they’re outperforming a co-worker,” Deardoff said. “It’s going to take time to get the program really fully implemented, but we’ve got everything in place. We really think it’s going to help improve our ability to attract and retain a quality workforce.”

Deardoff says he expects fewer than 30% of city employees will meet the incentive threshold each year. The new merit pay pool is on top of what will be a 3.5% average wage increase for employees in the next budget.