More than 6,000 city of Atlanta workers may soon see bigger checks.
Atlanta Mayor Kasim Reed announced late Friday after an early afternoon meeting with a group of city workers a plan to increase the salaries of most city employees in the fiscal year 2014 budget.
Reed’s recommendation would call for a 3 percent raise for all classified employees — ranging from sanitation workers to clerks to technical professionals — who currently make as much as $61,000 a year.
All other employees earning less than $60,000, including sworn police and fire personnel, would receive a 1 percent salary increase. Employees who are making more than $60,000 and are not considered classified would not get raises.
The news mostly drew praise, though the union representative of police officers questioned the amount for public safety officers.
It would be the first time in six years that employees who get paid out of the city’s general fund, which is derived from property tax revenues, would be getting raises. (In 2011, police and fire personnel got 3.5 percent salary increases.) It also comes less than six months after the Atlanta City Council voted to give its members 50 percent raises.
“My administration has worked to restore the overall fiscal health of the city by cutting inefficiencies and increasing our reserves,” Reed said. “The city’s general fund employees — who have not had raises for more than six years — have worked hard to improve services in a number of important areas, such as public safety and public works.”
The proposed salary increase — which would still need council approval as part of the 2014 budget — would affect 6,335 employees and would have a general fund budget impact of $2.8 million. The council is currently reviewing the $539 million 2014 budget, which has to be approved by the end of June. The new fiscal year starts July 1.
“On first blush, it seems that he has done what he said he was going to do and kept up with his commitment to increase salaries,” said Atlanta Councilwoman Felicia Moore, who chairs the finance committee. “And it is consistent with what the council has wanted to do. Employees have been looking for something to come out.”
City union leaders, who have railed against the administration in the past because of the lack of raises, were pleased with the announcement. Gina Pagnotta-Murphy, the president of the Professional Association of City Employees, called the meeting “an important next step in the negotiations for a fair compensation package.”
Gwen Gillespie, interim executive director of the AFSCME Local 1644, said Reed was taking the time “to consider the actual livelihoods and salary ranges of all the employees.”
“The proposal is intended to be a meaningful increase that will positively affect our employees lives,” said Human Resources Commissioner Yvonne C. Yancy.
But not everyone is happy.
Ken Allen, president of the International Brotherhood of Police Officers Local 623, had not read the proposal late Friday and was waiting to discuss it with Reed. But he said frustration is growing among sworn officers about pay.
In 2011, when police and fire personnel got their raises, they argued that they were still hit by pension cuts. That budget also included a one-time $450 bonus for most other city employees.
“I don’t think anything less than 5 percent for any city employee is acceptable,” Allen said. “Everybody has suffered long and hard. We need to find something that is sustainable and much more gradual. I don’t feel 1 percent is acceptable for public safety. That does so little for us and tells public safety they don’t have any regards for us.”
Last December, the City Council voted 10-4 to increase its salaries to $60,300, a jump of more than $20,000. The raises take effect after this year’s elections.
Reed did not sign the ordinance, but it became law without his signature. At the time, Reed said he would use the moment to begin hammering out an agreement on an across-the board pay increase for all city employees.
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