New Richmond Village Council members debated a one-time pay raise for village employees at their most recent council meeting Nov. 22, and while they agreed employees deserved a raise, the decision to spend more money was a difficult one.

Councilman Rich Matthews proposed the idea and made a motion to give village employees a one-time raise, or bonus check, before the holidays.

“We have some dedicated employees and we have had a good year,” Matthews said. “I know this is a touchy subject, but I think we need to do something for our employees.”

Matthews said employees haven’t had any kind of pay raise since March of 2010, and because they village has excess money this year, he said it is now or never when it comes to giving back.

“Next year we will probably, again, not be able to do anything. Because we do have some money available I propose a one-time check,” Matthews said.

He said they could call it a “holiday assistance,” check, “end of the year check,” or anything along those lines and proposed a $1,000 check for full-time employees and a $100 minimum check for part-time employees, based on the number of hours they worked.

“The employees of this village are the ones who make this village,” Councilman Nick Wolf said. “I don’t think we could spend the money any other way.”

Other council members were hesitant, however, to spend the excess money instead of saving it.

“This is a hard one,” Councilman Vinnie Cochran said. “I agree with everything except timing. You could argue that they are lucky to have a job.”

He said with the financial future looking bleak for the village, it is difficult to spend money when cuts may be in the future.

“How do you tell the first person that the $26,000 might have saved them?” Cochran asked.

Wolf said cutting employees would be the last thing they would do. But when the discussion came down to a vote, council members were split on whether or not spend or save the excess money.

Wolf, Matthews and Jack Conners all voted yes for the one-time raise for employees, while Cochran, Richard Hilt and Gary Skeene all voted no. Mayor Ramona Carr broke the tie by also voting no.

“I don’t think anyone says the employees don’t need a pay raise,” she said. “I wish the money was there to give them a three percent pay raise that they all deserve. But you’ve got to look at it from all angles.”