Cincinnati Council is likely raising the hourly pay for lifeguards to staff public pools next summer. The Budget and Finance Committee gave initial approval to the plan Monday, and Council will take a final vote Wednesday.
The new pay range is between $16 and $18 an hour, up from $11.53 to $12.40 an hour. Recreation Director Daniel Betts says they're also offering a $500 bonus.
"$250 At the beginning of the season, $250 contingent upon employee finishing the aquatic season," Betts told Council. "Positions that will qualify for the bonus would be lifeguard positions, supervisory positions, [and] aquatics specialist positions."
The city was only ableto open 11 of 23 pools last summer because of the lifeguard shortage. Betts says offering a bonus of up to $2,000 helped a lot last year, but the lifeguards said they’d rather have a smaller bonus in favor of a higher hourly rate.
"We benchmarked this [rate] to death across our region, across our city," Betts said. "We feel like what we're proposing is right at the top end of where folks are at in terms of attracting young people for these positions."
Last year, Coney Island paid lifeguards $14 an hour and Kings Island paid $18.50 an hour.
Betts says one barrier to raising lifeguard pay is that it would put them and the positions who supervise them at the same pay level.
"We do plan to come back in early January or February to potentially [request] a pay increase for other positions," Betts said.
Learn more about last year's bonus program and changes for next year:
Lifeguard Pay Presentation 12/19/2022 by WVXU News on Scribd
