Today, with City employees by her side, Mayor Indya Kincannon announced a plan to make major updates to City employee compensation in order to address staffing and recruitment challenges that have strained critical City services. The plan is designed to help secure core services that residents rely on like police response, fire protection, and brush collection.  

“During the pandemic, we saw the cracks of a staffing shortage emerge,” reflected Mayor Kincannon. “Now, amidst an increasingly competitive labor market, we’ve reached a breaking point. We have nearly 150 vacancies at the City, and that’s translating into longer response times and fewer hands to do the critical work of protecting public health and safety.” 

The announcement comes after preliminary findings from a comprehensive Compensation Study showed that City salaries are 10% behind the market. 

“The Compensation Study confirmed what we’ve heard from our employees and department leaders – that it is increasingly difficult to recruit and retain employees, especially first responders, because of low pay,” Mayor Kincannon said. “The large pay gap relative to the market is unacceptable: It’s demoralizing to our employees, and a weak link in the City’s ability to provide the essential services that residents and businesses expect and are asking for.  

“Addressing the gap for City employees is a necessity and not something we can slowly roll out. There is an urgent need not only to fill currently vacant positions, but also to support and retain the employees who are keeping the City running, despite increasingly challenging conditions.” 

The Mayor announced a multi-prong plan for competitive compensation for employees across City departments: 

• A 6% across-the-board salary increase for all employees to balance inflation.

• Adjustments to salary ranges across departments to better match market comparisons and address compression.

• Implementation of a Step Pay Plan for Knoxville Police and Knoxville Fire Departments, allowing uniformed employees to advance each year throughout their careers.  

• A one-time “gap” compensation adjustment payment for current employees working through the end of the current fiscal year.  

Mayor Kincannon also celebrated that under the new compensation plan, every City employee will be paid a minimum of $15/hour. “I’m thrilled to lead Knoxville in joining the “$15 an hour club,” said Mayor Kincannon. “That has been a priority of mine since taking office, and this plan ensures all employees can earn a competitive wage.” 

Each aspect of the compensation plan will be included in Mayor Kincannon’s proposed budget for the 2022/2023 Fiscal Year, which will be released in April and reviewed by City Council in May. 

“This compensation fix can’t come quickly enough,” said Knoxville Police Chief Eve Thomas. “We’re 42 officers short of full strength, and our officers are being stretched thin. We know that we are losing officers to other cities or career opportunities that pay better, far too often. Our officers deserve better and so do the people of Knoxville.”

“Every time a firefighter leaves the department it costs us as much as $40,000 to retrain another,” Knoxville Fire Chief Stan Sharp said. “Our firefighters are committed to protecting our City, and this compensation plan shows that we are committed to them.”   

Mayor Kincannon will outline this plan and present full findings of the Compensation Study during a City Council Workshop planned for March 3, 2022.

If approved by Knoxville City Council during the budgeting process, these changes would take effect July 1, 2022.