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Metro Atlanta

Police and firefighters want raises in DeKalb budget

January 13, 2017 Decatur - DeKalb CEO Mike Thurmond (left) and commissioner Kathie Gannon are sworn-in with other county officials during the Honorary Swearing-in Ceremony and Reception at Manuel Maloof Auditorium on Friday, January 13, 2017. HYOSUB SHIN / HSHIN@AJC.COM

Credit: HYOSUB SHIN / AJC

Credit: HYOSUB SHIN / AJC

January 13, 2017 Decatur - DeKalb CEO Mike Thurmond (left) and commissioner Kathie Gannon are sworn-in with other county officials during the Honorary Swearing-in Ceremony and Reception at Manuel Maloof Auditorium on Friday, January 13, 2017. HYOSUB SHIN / HSHIN@AJC.COM
By Mark Niesse
Jan 18, 2017

The biggest fight over DeKalb County government spending this year may be about pay raises for police officers and firefighters.

DeKalb CEO Mike Thurmond didn't include raises in his budget proposal Tuesday, but he acknowledged that pay, recruitment and retention are issues for public safety employees.

Police and firefighters want a 20 percent pay raise, saying it's necessary to DeKalb competitive with surrounding areas. They received 4 percent raises last year.

The $1.3 billion budget will be debated and amended by the DeKalb Board of Commissioners before a vote in late February.

Please read the full story about Thurmond's budget recommendation on MyAJC.com.

About the Author

Mark Niesse is an enterprise reporter and covers elections and Georgia government for The Atlanta Journal-Constitution and is considered an expert on elections and voting. Before joining the AJC, he worked for The Associated Press in Atlanta, Honolulu and Montgomery, Alabama. He also reported for The Daily Report and The Santiago Times in Chile.

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