Fulton doles out $1.2 million in raises

By Johnny Edwards

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

With government employees across the state sweating layoffs, pay cuts and unpaid furlough days, Fulton County's lowest-paid employees just got a rare gift: raises across the board.

The Fulton commission voted Wednesday to tap into reserves and give 2 percent raises to all workers earning $40,000 per year or less. The move affects 2,800 employees or about a third of the workforce, according to Budget Manager Hakeem Oshikoya.

Paychecks will go up starting June 22, costing the county $1.2 million this year, Oshikoya said. On an annual basis, the cost will be doubled.

Clint Mueller, legislative director for the Association County Commissioners of Georgia, could think of no other metro Atlanta jurisdiction giving employees raises right now, and very few across the state. Even more unusual is how Fulton is limiting them to a certain pay scale, he said.

Katherine Willoughby, professor of Public Management and Policy at Georgia State University's Andrew Young School of Policy Studies, said governments should be looking for cuts and stocking up for years ahead, when guaranteed pension payments, increasing health care costs and declining property tax revenues will only make matters worse. And any raises given should be based on performance, she said.

"To me, something like that in the present environment, when we know we're going into some very hard years, is just irresponsible," Willoughby said. "This is a terrible question to ask, but would all of those people quit if they didn't get a raise?"

The decision came during the process of approving the 2011 budget, with commissioners having learned two weeks ago that they had about $44 million more in reserves than anticipated thanks to a record year for tax collections. Commissioner Emma Darnell made the motion for raises, saying she wanted to help employees who had been hit the hardest by the recession.

The vote to pass was 4-3, with commission Chairman John Eaves and commissioners Liz Hausmann and Rob Pitts dissenting.

"We're in a deficit-spending situation," Hausmann told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. "I just don't think this is a good environment to be giving raises in. I don't think people are going to be happy about it."

Greg Fann, local head of the workers' union, said county workers in that pay range include single mothers and families on food stamps and PeachCare.

"A lot of the workers who work here, they're Fulton County residents, too," said Fann, a coordinator in the Public Works Department. "We're happy. They honored and recognized the work that we've done, but the money just isn't there for everybody."

Other metro Atlanta counties have decided the money isn't there for anyone.

DeKalb workers haven't received raises in three years and won't see any this year. Last year, they took seven furlough days. In Cobb, the current fiscal budget had no raises and none are anticipated in the near future, according to spokesman Robert Quigley.

Gwinnett employees haven’t receive a raise since 2009 and won’t get one this year under a budget approved this month. Forsyth's 2011 budget included no cost of living or merit increases for the third consecutive year. State employees and teachers, likewise, haven't received raises in years unless they've been promoted or shifted to different jobs.

John Sherman, president of the Buckhead-based Fulton County Taxpayers Foundation, said Wednesday's vote will only add to the disillusionment in north Fulton, where community leaders allege that the county has failed to rein in spending as services have been taken over by newly-formed cities. Along with several reform measures, a bill paving the way for north Fulton voters to break away is expected to be introduced in the current legislative session.

"If the spending of Fulton County continues, that will definitely result in the creation of Milton County," Sherman said. "And Milton County will have horrible repercussions for the remaining Fulton."

Along with raises, reserves were also drawn down Wednesday to add another $4.5 million to the Grady Memorial Hospital allocation. The county will keep a 2011 reserve balance of 8.33 percent of expenses, about $50 million.

Staff writers Janel Davis, Megan Matteucci, Jeffry Scott and David Wickert contributed to this article.