Joplin City Council Special Meeting Summary — October 26, 2026

The Joplin City Council held a special meeting on Monday, October 26, 2026, at 5:30 p.m. in the fifth floor council chamber at 602 South Main Street. The sole agenda item was the second and third reading of Council Bill 2026-528, an ordinance adopting new step pay plans for city employees, including police and fire, and setting annual salaries for fiscal year 2026-2027. After discussion, the council approved the ordinance by a vote of 6 to 2, with one member absent.

Call to Order and Roll Call

• The meeting was called to order, and the city clerk read the public notice. Mayor O'Brien presided.
• Present: Mr. Bard, Mr. Coppel, Mr. Cortez, Mr. Cals, Mr. Ditar, Mr. Moran, Ms. Price, and Mayor O'Brien. Mr. Jackson was absent.
• Mr. Bard moved to excuse Mr. Jackson; Ms. Price seconded. The motion passed 8 to 0, with one absent.

Discussion Items

• City Manager Edwards presented Council Bill 2026-528. He explained that the ordinance approves the salary administration plan, enables a 2% cost-of-living adjustment beginning November 1, and allows step increases upon satisfactory performance evaluations.
• Under the proposed pay plan, police and fire employees would receive a 23.03% wage increase and general employees would receive a 12% increase. Edwards stated that the 12% and 23% increases would not be implemented until the pension plan reaches 120% funding, and the city had budgeted for roughly 10 months of that expenditure.
• Councilmember Price stated she was not opposed to the 2% COLA, the 2.5% step increase for city employees, or the 3% step increase for police and fire. She expressed concern about how the 12% figure was determined and about the finance director's response that funding was uncertain if a future compression study identified larger or smaller needed increases. She also noted Councilmember Koppel's point that the 12% figure was discussed in a closed meeting, raising transparency concerns. Price said she would vote no because approving the 12% across-the-board raise could leave insufficient funds to fix pay compression after the study; she said she could support 2%, 2.5%, and perhaps 4–5% raises while preserving money to address compression. She also said a possible data center would provide only short-term revenue for a long-term problem.
• Councilmember Koppel asked why the cook position in Exhibit A started at step 4 instead of step 1 and why some pay plans went only to step 17 rather than 18. City Manager Edwards and staff responded that Exhibit A reflects only the 2% COLA; the return to step 1 for beginning grades would occur with the 12% increase, and the step 17/18 structure has been in place for an extended period.
• Councilmember Cows asked whether this was the first formal council approval of the 12% increase. Edwards confirmed it was, explaining that a January memo was a tacit agreement and that the increases followed collective bargaining in advance of Proposition Police and Fire. The 23% increase for police and fire was the agreed-upon amount, which supported the 12% increase for general employees; the pay plans were included in a February 9 council work session before the election.

Key Outcomes

• Councilmember Cortez moved to approve Council Bill 2026-528 on second and third reading; Councilmember Bard seconded.
• The ordinance passed 6 to 2, with one absent. Councilmember Price was among the opposing votes; the other opposing vote was not identified in the transcript.
• The meeting was adjourned immediately after the vote.