City of Greeley’s top officials get good marks on performance review, receive raises

By Kelly Ragan

The Greeley City Council voted 6-1 to approve raises for three top city officials based on their annual performance reviews. 

The raises, combined, are set to cost the city an additional $35,136.31 per year. 

During the public hearing portion of the meeting, Greeley resident Steve Teets raised concerns over the city allocating money toward raises while wrestling with other problems. 

“I’m sure they do a good job,” Teets said. “But we still have big problems with housing, homelessness, transit, transportation and infrastructure. We pay a lot in tax money, but it seems like we don’t get the services needed.” 

City councilmember Johnny Olson said he agreed with Teets that council has a responsibility to spend taxpayer dollars wisely but that it was important to retain the best people to solve Greeley’s problems. 

“When we start looking at the right people in the right positions, we will solve the problems we’re trying to solve,” Olson said. “…This small amount of money is going to gain us a big amount of success in the future.” 

City councilmember Ed Clark was the lone no-vote, noting that while he appreciated and respected City Manager Raymond Lee, he didn’t want to approve the $10,000 performance bonus in addition to Lee’s salary increase. 

City manager

City Manager Raymond Lee’s annual performance review rating was “substantially exceeds expectations,” according to city documents. 

He is set to receive a merit increase of 5.25%. This brings Lee’s salary from $260,740 per year up to $274,428.85 per year.

Lee is also set to receive a one-time bonus of $10,000 as a reward for his performance in 2022. 

The city will also bump up its contribution to Lee’s 401(k) by 1%.

City attorney 

City Attorney Doug Marek’s annual performance review rating was “exceeds expectations,” according to city documents. 

He is set to receive a merit increase of 4.75%. This brings Marek’s salary from $235,111.80 per year up to $246,279.61 per year.  

Municipal judge 

Municipal Judge Mark Gonzales’ annual performance review rating was “meets expectations,” according to city documents. 

He is set to receive a merit increase of 4.25%. This brings Gonzales’ salary from $177,302.52 per year up to $184,837.88 per year. 

Gonzales’ time off accrual rate will also be bumped from 6.14 hours per pay period to 9.23 hours per pay period.