Mayor Presents City Retention, Signing Bonus Proposal to Tulsa City Council

8/4/2021

Today, Mayor G.T. Bynum proposed an employee retention and signing bonus at the Urban and Economic Development Council committee meeting.

The nearly $9.7 million proposal uses funds from the American Rescue Plan Act and aims to provide City employees with a 4 percent retention bonus and future critical hires with a signing bonus. The City of Tulsa has been actively seeking employment in many critical functions that help with day-to-day services during the pandemic.

“Over the last two years, our employees have had to handle a historic flood, a global pandemic, a national recession, a polar vortex and a cyberattack,” Mayor Bynum said. “Through it all, our employees have provided exemplary service and found ways to move Tulsa forward through some of the most challenging times in our city’s history. Retention bonuses will reward our employees for their hard work and stipends will help attract talent to ensure we keep providing world-class service to the citizens of Tulsa.”

In addition to retention bonuses, which will utilize the majority of the funds, the proposal also includes $500,000 in stipends for critical hire positions, such as electricians, mechanics, Parks workers and others. Additionally, the proposal includes a $3,000 stipend for Tulsa Police Academy hires and $2,000 for newly hired 911 operators.

“This proposal comes forward following evaluation by our Mayor-Council American Rescue Plan working group, and I want to thank Councilors Hall-Harper, Decter-Wright, Cue, and Lakin for joining me in submitting this funding proposal. We continue to evaluate other projects and hope to bring forward recommendations on a more expansive list in September. But our staffing issues directly impact our ability to provide quality service today, so we felt it necessary to bring this forward first,” Bynum added.

The Tulsa City Council is expected to vote on the proposal at its August 11 regular meeting.