I’m sure city employees always fix a big batch of popcorn, grab their notebooks and sit down in front of the TV on Tuesday nights to watch and admire the weekly Lawrence City Commission meetings. But there may be a few more viewers tonight. This is the meeting where commissioners will make some significant decisions about city paychecks.

Commissioners are scheduled to approve new employment agreements for the employee groups that represent large numbers of police officers and firefighters. It is set to be a big night for those groups. Getting city employees increases in pay has been a priority for the administration of interim City Manager Diane Stoddard, and it appears Lawrence city commissioners are on board with the direction as well. The attitude has been noticed by the employee groups.

“It was clear the management team has a goal of investing in the employees,” said Detective Mike McAtee, chairman of the Lawrence Police Officers Association. “They were tough negotiations, but I felt like each side was making headway in every meeting. I can’t say it went that way in years past.”

But what has changed in terms of how the city will pay its police and fire staffs? (Quick note: The agreements cover police officers and detectives on the police side, and cover positions that are at the rank of lieutenant or below on the fire side.) Here’s the basic information:

• The city will spend about $1.05 million more on police wages — for those employees covered by the agreement — over the next three years. The 2016 total is $154,800. The wage increase in 2016 really only impacts a few police officers who have topped out on the pay scale. Detectives aren’t getting a general wage increase because a salary study showed their wages were very competitive with area communities. In 2017, the city will spend about $445,000 to fund the police agreement, and that includes a 2 percent general wage increase for police officers, but again not for detectives. In 2018, the city will spend about $445,000 again, this time giving a 1.75 percent wage increase to police officers and a 1 percent increase to detectives.

• The city will spend about $1.5 million more on firefighter wages — for those employees covered by the agreement — for the next four years. (Firefighters negotiated a four-year deal, while police negotiated a three-year deal.) The breakdown for fire is: about $350,000 in 2016 and about $500,000 in 2017 that will go toward fire employees who have topped out at the pay scale; about $360,000 in 2018 that will fund a 2.5 percent general wage increase; and about $350,000 in 2019 to fund a 2.5 percent general wage increase.

In a memo to city commissioners, staff members said they based a lot of their negotiations off of salary studies that looked at what police and fire employees were making in other area communities. But those studies weren’t part of the information provided to commissioners, so I asked to see them. Here’s some of what those studies showed:

• Lawrence’s average starting salary today for a police officer is $43,180. That’s about 6.9 percent higher than the average starting salary for the communities of Lenexa, Overland Park, Shawnee, Topeka, Kansas City, Kan. and Olathe.

• The annual “maximum” for a police officer in Lawrence is $67,350. That is about 4.8 percent less than the average of those communities listed above. Understand something about the maximum, though. There are ways that officers can earn more than that amount in a year. Overtime is one way, and receiving special training to become certified in specific areas is another. According to city payroll data, there were more than 50 police officers in 2014 that earned more than $70,000 a year, with a handful in the $90,000 range. Now, how much of that came in overtime, I don’t know. It seems like that may be an issue city commissioners will want to study as they look at what type of police headquarters to build. Does the city have the right size of police force today, or is it asking officers to work unhealthy amounts of overtime?

• It takes Lawrence police officers about eight years to reach the top of their pay grade. The average for the other communities is 11.6 years, but the numbers are really all over the board. Shawnee and Olathe didn’t provide information for that question, and Topeka checked in at 21 years.

The bottom-line on the proposed police agreement is that both sides have agreed to keep the starting salary above the average of area communities. The department finds that to be a real advantage in finding quality recruits. Both sides also have agreed to increase the maximum annual salary incrementally so that at the end of the three-year agreement, Lawrence’s maximum will be in line with the average maximum at other area departments. The amount of time it takes a Lawrence police officer to reach that maximum salary isn’t scheduled to change under the agreement. So, it is a significant boost for police, but one that McAtee said is important in order to cut down on officer turnover.

“We want officers to be invested in the community,” McAtee said. “If they are making a fair wage, hopefully they will buy a house in Lawrence, their kids will go to school in Lawrence, and they really will be a part of the community. That is what we want.”

Figuring out how the fire pay plan works is a little more complicated. There’s lots of talk of apples and oranges, and after awhile I feel like I’m in the produce aisle of Checkers, which never ends well. (I just get overwhelmed and fill the F-150 with bananas because they are so cheap.)

But the point fire officials are making is that it is a little tough to compare wages of Lawrence fire employees with those of other cities because Lawrence operates a fully integrated fire and medical service, while some other communities don’t. In other words, Lawrence firefighters also are trained EMTs and operate ambulances in addition to firefighting equipment. But here’s a look at what I was able to decipher:

• It takes about eight years for a Lawrence fire employee to top out on the pay scale. Data from Overland Park, Shawnee, Olathe, Lenexa and Kansas City, Kan. showed that it takes about 12 to 14 years in those communities.

• When Lawrence fire employees top out on the pay scale, their annual maximum is about 10 percent less than the average maximum in those communities listed above.

• The proposed plan will add about six years on to how long it takes for a Lawrence fire employee to reach the top of the pay scale. But the top ranges of the pay scale will increase by about 10 percent to bring them in line with area averages. In terms of what those ranges are, I don’t have those numbers. But from 2014 payroll data, I can tell you that many firefighters make around $60,000 to $80,000 a year, depending on whether they are trained to be EMTs or paramedics. Lieutenants generally make more.

John Darling, president of the local firefighters union, said the proposed plan represents some of the larger changes that have been made to the department’s pay structure in years. But he said they are important changes to make to help the department recruit and retain quality employees.

Commissioners will discuss and vote on the proposed employment agreements at their 5:45 p.m. meeting tonight. Before that meeting, though, they will have a study session on the 2016 budget. Last week, commissioners balked at a recommended 1.057 mill levy increase that would help pay for wage increases, additional funding for the WRAP mental health care program in schools, and a few other items.

We’ll see how commissioners attempt to reconcile the proposed budget. There certainly has been some talk about spending down some city reserve funds. In the past, spending reserve funds has been seen as an acceptable practice when paying for one-time items, but has been frowned upon when paying for ongoing expenses, such as salaries or multi-year programs. We’ll see how this new commission tackles such issues.