Little Rock city board OKs pay increase for private security guards at city facilities
Little Rock AR March 24 2023
Private security guards at Little Rock city facilities are set to see a pay increase of $4 an hour as a result of a resolution approved by the Little Rock Board of Directors during a meeting Tuesday evening.
The resolution was approved along with other items in a voice vote as part of the city board’s consent agenda.
The measure amends an earlier resolution from June 2020 that authorized the city manager to execute an annual contract with Quality Security Services, Inc. for security guard services.
That agreement set an hourly rate of $14.50 for unarmed guards and $16.50 for armed guards. Quality Security Services had requested that those rates be increased to $18.50 and $20.50, respectively, according to the text of the latest resolution.
The original resolution put the timeframe for the contract with Quality Security Services at one year, with two possible renewals of one year each. The annual cost was estimated to be $271,000.
A memo from the city manager’s office prepared for the meeting on Tuesday said that “this is the final year of the annual contract.”
“The vendor has requested an increase in the hourly rate in an effort to address paying their employees competitive wages and meeting the challenges of the economy to maximize coverage for each of their clients,” the memo said.
Meeting materials did not list a new estimated total value of the contract for security guard services in light of the pay boost, nor did they say how many guards are assigned to city buildings currently.
During the meeting, City Director Virgil Miller Jr. of Ward 1 asked about the resolution’s effect in terms of an increase to the city’s budget.
Assistant City Manager Emily Jordan Cox responded that city departments would “absorb the increase within their budgets.”
Mayor Frank Scott Jr. said each city department has a facilities budget, and the cost would be extracted across all departments.
Miller suggested it would be simple to estimate the fiscal impact based on the new rates of pay along with the number of hours. Scott said officials could show how the cost would be spread across departments, but noted that “it doesn’t change the budget.”