Fort Wayne City Council members are set to vote May 12 on a resolution that would grant hazard pay to city employees exposed to the outside world during the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. If passed, the resolution could grant workers an additional $2.50 an hour.

Although Citizens Square has been closed since March 18, many city employees continue to work in capacities that include potential interaction with residents. Some of the jobs that would be covered by the council’s hazard pay resolution include street departments and other public works workers, neighborhood code compliance officers, animal care and control officers, city utility crews, parking control officers, parks employees and others.

Indiana Gov. Eric Holcomb announced May 1 that $300 million in federal reimbursement funds would be coming into communities as reimbursement for COVID-19 expenditures. The city could use some of that money to pay employees the recommended $2.50 in additional wages retroactively for all hours worked back to March 18. That money would be paid in one lump sum. Moving forward, the supplemental hazard pay would be included on a weekly payroll for the duration of the policy. City Council would re-evaluate the policy at the beginning of July, and then every 90 days thereafter if the policy is extended.

Council would request that appropriate departments report within one week the number of employees impacted by the request, as well as the estimated fiscal impact. Supplemental pay will come from existing budgets to be reassessed after the pandemic passes.

The resolution will require a two-thirds approval from council members in order to pass.

City Council will meet in committee session at 5:30 p.m. May 12 in Room 035 of the Council Courtroom on the Garden Level of Citizens Square, 200 E. Berry St., Fort Wayne. The voting session will follow.

Citizen Square is currently closed to the public. Residents can watch City Council live on City TV, Frontier Channel 28, and Comcast Channel 58 or online at https://afw.viebit.com.