YOUNGSTOWN — City council voted to give 10% bonuses to each Youngstown police officer and emergency 911 dispatcher rather than use a portion to pay the salaries of five new patrol officers.

Council voted 7-0 Wednesday in favor of the bonuses.

Councilwoman Samantha Turner, D-3rd Ward, repeatedly questioned Finance Director Kyle Miasek on Wednesday about the administration’s recommendation to use the remaining $882,762 from a $1.2 million American Rescue Plan grant the city received in 2022 for bonuses instead of paying the 2025 salaries of five officers who will be hired later this month.

Miasek didn’t budge from repeating the same statements that the administration met with the three unions that represent the patrol officers, the ranking officers and the dispatchers and determined this was the best use of the money.

The 10% bonus proposal didn’t have enough support at the Nov. 20 meeting to pass by emergency measure when Turner voted against doing that and Amber White, an independent who represents the 7th Ward, was absent.

Despite Turner’s questions, Wednesday’s vote was unanimous.

Detective Sgt. Seann Carfolo, the police department’s fiscal officer, said the city plans to apply for a $1.5 million federal grant that would pay the salaries of 15 officers – the nine previously hired this year and up to six others. Carfolo said he didn’t believe the $1.5 million grant being sought could be used on top of the ARP grant to pay those salaries. By taking this course of action, the city can cover the salaries of the nine officers for an additional year, he said.

The $840,000 already paid from the grant went toward the salaries of the nine hires for this year, Miasek said.

Patrolman Michael Quinn, president of the patrol officers union, told council that the department is losing officers and the bonuses will help with retention.

“We’re trying to not get people to walk out the door,” Quinn said. “We’re trying to keep people here.”

The proposal was in front of city council only because Youngstown has to make the 19.5% pension payments for police officers on the extra pay, which required legislative approval. Federal funds cannot be used to pay for pensions.

Paying the bonuses from the grants will cost the city about $150,000 to cover the pension pickups of the officers. The city doesn’t have to cover those pension amounts for the dispatchers, but they make up a small percentage of the bonuses that will be paid.

Council also voted 7-0 Wednesday to give pay raises of 2.5% plus an additional $1 an hour to its nonunion employees effective Jan. 1.

About 200 city employees, including department heads and about 70 workers in the clerk of courts and the court bailiff’s office, are receiving the raises.

Council approved identical pay raises Feb. 21, retroactive to the beginning of this year, for those same employees.

The raises don’t impact elected officials — members of council, mayor, clerk of courts and municipal court judges — nor the three civil service commissioners.

The 2.5% raises are the same increases given for 2025 to those in city unions.

The additional $1 per hour to nonunion employees is designed to give them money in place of extra payments that normally go to union members for bonuses for hazardous duty, shift differentials and uniform allowances.

Miasek said he expects to have a new contract for council to consider at its Dec. 18 meeting for those in the street department union.

That contract would have a salary increase of 2.5% for 2025 and a 4% increase for 2026, Miasek said.

The firefighters union received a 4% raise for 2026 in its contract.

The city does pattern negotiations with its unions, Miasek said, meaning that whatever one union gets in pay raises is given to the others.

The union that represents city hall workers is getting a 2.5% raise in 2026 as its members negotiated before the firefighters settled their contract. The difference will be made up in the next contract.

The city has held one bargaining session with its police patrol union and plans to offer a 2.5% raise for 2025 and 4% for 2026, Miasek said.