New overtime rule could put squeeze on City of Haleyville's budget

HALEYVILLE    -  Federal changes regarding how some salaried workers are compensated for overtime work has the City of Haleyville concerned over how the new requirement will affect its budget.
The U.S. Department of Labor has issued a final rule effective July 1, that requires many salaried, full-time employees who make less than $43,888 per year or $844 a week to be eligible for overtime pay for any hours worked over 40 hours per week.  As of January 1, 2025, the salary threshold will rise to $58,656 per year, or $1,128 per week, according to printed information about the changes required under the Fair Labor Standards Act.
Municipalities are being required to either adopt this salary matrix or pay overtime to their salaried employees, Haleyville city officials stated.
“The first round of salary increases (on July 1) will not affect city employees, but the Jan. 1 increase will, only salaried employees,” stressed Haleyville City Clerk Christy Harbin.
The City of Haleyville currently has four salaried employees that will be affected by the January 1, salary matrix, according to Harbin.
Haleyville Mayor Ken Sunseri expressed concerns over the new base salary adjustments affecting salaried personnel, at the city council’s Monday, July 1, meeting.
“A decision has not been made yet on how we’re going to handle that on our department heads.  Financially, it will be a major burden, if we try to increase salaries that much,” Sunseri pointed out.
“The other thing is on state taxes, it would exempt overtime, so we’re faced with two different situations there,” Sunseri added.
“We have to treat all (employees) fairly,” Sunseri then said. “We can’t take one and increase an absorbent amount. You have to do it for everyone.
“(The increase) will involve several different positions, but right now we are not able to do it,” Sunseri pointed out.
After the two increases, the new rule states that salary thresholds will be updated every three years to reflect current earning data, beginning July 1, 2027.