Pay raise issue gets more complicated for Albany City Commission

ALBANY — Prior to Tuesday, two proposals to increase pay for Albany city employees were on the table. But by the end of an Albany City Commission work session Tuesday afternoon, that number had doubled to four, with all but one including employee bonus payments of between $1,000 to $2,500.

By next Wednesday, the City Commission will have to select one of the options as it wraps up budget work for the fiscal year that begins on July 1.

City Manager Steven Carter’s proposal would increase the pay for police officers by 15% and include employee one-time incentive checks of $1,000 for employees in job positions that are 71% or more fully staffed and $2,500 for those positions that have critical understaffing of 30% or more.

“The one thing I want to do is reward those individuals with (areas) that are short on staff but still provided the same level of service,” Carter said.

Some examples of jobs included in the proposal for $2,500 bonuses are 911 dispatchers and some positions in the Public Works Department.

The money to fund those bonuses would come from funds allocated for the current fiscal year that were not filled, Carter said. The total cost would be $864,000.

The city manager has proposed a 5.5% increase in pay for non-police employees.

A variation put forward by Mayor Bo Dorough, who, like Carter, had voiced his proposal during an earlier meeting, would provide police officers from the rank of major down with 10% pay raises and raises of 5.5% for other employees. Non-police employees also would have their pension deduction increased by 0.5%, for a net pay increase of 5%.

Dorough’s proposal also includes $1,000 bonuses for all employees.

When Dorough took office 3 1/2 years ago, he said, the starting salaries for police officers stood at $33,000. With a 10% raise, this year the starting salary would be $48,000.

“Our retention rate, despite the increases, has not improved,” the mayor said. “What I’m hoping is that with this increase, we’ll get some lateral hires” from other law enforcement agencies.

Commissioner Jon Howard tweaked the mayor’s proposal by including 911 operators in those who would receive a 10% salary increase as the only change.

“I would feel comfortable with those 30-plus 911 dispatchers being treated equal to our police,” he said .””They deal with a lot of stress, a lot of calls. They are just as important to the city.”

Rounding out the proposals was one recommended by Commissioner Vilnis Gaines of a 10% raise for all city employees across the board, with no bonuses.

The cost to fund the various proposals was not immediately available, Albany Finance Director Derrick Brown said during a telephone interview after the meeting.

“We’ll put a dollar figure to that and see how much they will cost,” he said. “My goal will be to get that back to them by tomorrow.”

File Photo: Alan MauldinAlanMauldin[email protected]
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