The City of Wenatchee is raising their wages for full-time city employees to try and curb rising inflation costs.

During their August 11th city council meeting, City of Wenatchee Finance Director Brad Posenjak shared that the cost to increase wages would roughly total to $1 million. Employees receiving a 4% increase starting January 1, 2023

These wage increases are geared towards combating rising cost-of-living expenses, with inflation near a 40-year high.

Mayor Frank Kuntz said that they need to increase wages in order to retain their labor pool.

“Quite frankly, our employees are getting contacted pretty regularly from headhunters and others trying to hire some of our best employees from us," Kuntz said. "Not that we can prevent that always with money, but on the same token, we need to be competitive.” 

Wages for Wenatchee police will also increase, with the average salary for a police officer recruit adding up to $6,371 a month.

This adjustment will affect the pay period from August 1, 2022 through December 31, 2022.

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