Enhanced law enforcement areas also on Monday’s study session agenda
Ashland.news staff report
The Ashland City Council will review tentative agreements that would give city employees an average raise of about 5% raise this fiscal year and then another 2% each of the following two years at a total cost of under $700,000 this year and about $335,000 each of the next two years, for an aggregate total of a little under $1.4 million total over three years.
That’s a total increase of .185% of the city’s biennial total budget of $374 million the first year and a little under one-tenth of a percent each of the following two years.
Monday’s study session agenda starts with a discussion about whether and how to go about lowering the bar to expel individuals from Enhanced Law Enforcement Areas. The city has had an ELEA in the downtown area for more than a decade and recently added a second ELEA along Ashland Street east to Exit 14.
Currently it takes multiple offenses where the individual has been convicted before expulsion. Some cities allow officers to expel individuals for a single, unadjudicated violation.
Monday’s study session agenda also includes review of tentative labor agreements from three unions that represent 181 of the city’s 272 employees, according to meeting materials for the study session.
The city on Monday, July 28, announced officials had reached a tentative agreement with the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW), which encompasses electrical and clerical workers across the city.
For the electrical workers, the deal grants the workers a 5% ($2.18 per hour) raise, retroactively, which covers 2025, a 3% ($1.78 per hour) bump in 2026, and 3% ($1.59 per hour) bump in 2027.
Meantime, clerical workers would see a 4% ($1.31 per hour) increase in 2025 and 2% (70 cents per hour) for 2026 and 2027.
The city reached a similar agreement on July 23 with the Laborers’ International Union of North America.
Management, or unrepresented employees, would see an average 5% ($2.18 per hour) boost in 2025 and an average 2% (95 cents per hour) boost in 2026 and 2027.
The news release notes that the city manager and attorney, along with the Parks & Recreation director positions, are subject to contract terms.
The top raise of a little more than $16,000 per year, a 12.2% increase in salary, is for the currently vacant post of fire chief, filled on an interim basis by Marshall Rasor. The deputy city manager stands to see an increase of a little under $15,000 a year, or nearly 10%. The next two highest increases for those making more than $100,000 a year are to the step 1 rate for an Ashland Fiber Network IT manager position at a little less than $11,000 a year, or a more than 10% increase from the current rate, and just under $10,600 a year for the city manager, or 2.3% of her current rate.
Monday’s study session starts at 5:30 p.m., Tuesday’s business meeting at 6 p.m. Meetings are held in the Ashland City Council chamber at 1175 E. Main St. Proceedings are cablecast live on Channel 9 (or 180), streamed online at rvtv.sou.edu (RVTV Prime), and posted online the day after the meeting.
Tuesday, the City Council will gather at 5:15 p.m. to receive training on public records, public meetings law and government ethics from the city attorney. It will be an informational session only with no public comment, according to the meeting agenda.
Email Ashland.news associate editor Steve Mitchell at stevem@ashland.news.
Related story: Ashland officials and labor union reach tentative agreement (July 25, 2025)
