Public safety would get a big boost under a $1.5 billion budget approved Tuesday by the Gwinnett County Board of Commissioners.
The 2016 budget includes 55 new police officers and new employees for the sheriff’s department, district attorney and juvenile and magistrate courts, among other departments. It also includes $8 million for 4 percent performance-based raises and $3 million to restore longevity pay for employees.
The new positions and raises indicate Gwinnett has mostly put the austerity imposed by the Great Recession behind it. Chairman Charlotte Nash said Gwinnett’s population has continued to rise even as tax revenue plummeted in the wake of the recession. The demand for services has not let up, she said.
Many of the new police officers eventually will staff a new Grayson-area precinct, which had been on hold because Gwinnett didn’t have the money for additional personnel.
In all, the budget includes money for 82 new positions, 59 of them for public safety and courts. It also includes money for three new express bus routes, expanded early voting and a new Centerville senior center. Among other things, it also includes money to design an expansion of the Gwinnett Justice and Administration Center.
Nash said the raises and longevity pay will help Gwinnett attract and retain quality employees. The county gave employees a 3 percent raise in 2014 and a 4 percent raise last year. But they received no raises from 2009 to 2013 as the county wrestled with declining revenue.
The budget includes $1.1 billion in operating expenditures and $363 million for capital projects.
Commissioners approved the budget without discussion.
“I think it’s a well put-together budget,” Commissioner Tommy Hunter said afterward. “I’m satisfied.”
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