Although the Yuma City Council approved a pay raise for all city employees in January, leaders of every department wanted to make it clear why they need those raises on the final day of the city council retreat.
Many of the city department leaders that spoke at the retreat Tuesday said they are concerned they cannot fill their open positions due to low pay.
The City of Yuma human resources department’s statistics back this argument, illustrating 88 employees left in 2018. 72.7 percent of those employees left voluntarily, according to the City of Yuma's human resources.
As we've been reporting for months, both Yuma fire and police have trouble recruiting and retaining employees.
YPD lost 19 officers voluntarily, according to human resources.
It is also something Mayor Doug Nicholls said on day one of the retreat that will be a top priority when it comes to approving the budget.