Atlanta City Council to vote on salary freeze

Layoffs. Cutbacks in service. Employee furloughs.

Not the best time to give themselves a raise, Atlanta City Council members say.

The council is scheduled Monday to vote on a plan to freeze their salaries and that of the mayor until the city’s finances are in better shape.

“People were not interested in increasing the salaries with all of the financial difficulties the city is going through,” said Councilwoman Felicia Moore, who chairs the committee that recently studied the matter. “It just didn’t make any sense.”

Besides, Moore said, “There’s no money to give.”

Any raises would begin in 2010, when the next mayor and council take office.

There is a caveat to the salary freeze. If the next mayor gives workers an across-the-board raise, the mayor’s salary would increase by 17 percent, to $172,575. The council’s annual pay would rise by 17 percent, from $39,473 to $46,183.

In October, a five-member citizen commission appointed by Mayor Shirley Franklin and the council to review their salaries recommended that the mayor’s salary rise by more than 50 percent, from $147,500 to $225,000. The commission said the higher pay is necessary to draw top-shelf candidates to run for mayor.

But council members questioned the wisdom of approving any raises, considering the city’s budget problems.

In November, budget officials projected a $50 million shortfall for its general fund, which pays for most city services, such as police, fire protection and code enforcement. The city’s Watershed Management Department, which is in charge of Atlanta’s water and sewer system, has projected a $50 million shortfall in its department.

City officials blame the sharp drops in revenue — property taxes, water receipts and permit fees — on the national recession.

To close the gap, Franklin last month laid off more than 300 city workers, and announced service reductions, such as cutting recycling pickup from once a week to once every other week. Also, most city workers, including Franklin, are taking a 10 percent pay cut.

Also Monday, Franklin is scheduled to give her final State of the City address to the council. Franklin’s term expires at the end of the year. The two-term incumbent is legally prohibited from running for a third consecutive term.