Friday, June 25, 2010
Guv'ment Atlanta City Council OKs fire, police salary increases in mayor's budget
Posted by Thomas Wheatley @thomaswheatley on Fri, Jun 25, 2010 at 5:24 PM
- Joeff Davis/CL File
Ah, Atlanta City Councilman Alex Wan, it was not the quick and efficient budget vote you'd hoped for this morning.
After nearly six hours of discussions — and some negotiations between employee union officials and Mayor Kasim Reed — the City Council today overwhelmingly approved the mayor's plan to keep Atlanta from being swallowed by the Earth. Until next year at least. Only one councilmember, Felicia Moore, voted against the $559 million package — Reed's first as mayor.
Some of Reed's campaign promises were among the approved budget measures: 3.5 percent salary increases in January for cops and firefighters (who haven't had a salary increase in three years), $3.7 million to re-open rec centers as "Centers of Hope," and changes to the city's employee pension system. Also included was a funding provision to hire 100 new police officers.
Municipal employee unions at first were reportedly none too pleased with their members who earn less than $75,000 being handed a $300 — later upped to $450 — one-time bonus when cops and firefighters were given raises. As part of the agreement between the mayor and the unions, the Atlanta Business Chronicle's Dave Williams reports, the mayor agreed to conduct a salary study in six months to determine whether those employees should be given pay increases. He also reports that the city had to dip into a city court trust fund to afford the raises and bonuses, which should be applied immediately toward the purchase of an iPad.
Prior to casting the lone "no" vote, Moore told her colleagues that the budget — and even the idea of giving pay raises six months from now — was poor policy.
“We can’t afford this budget because it’s not sustainable," she said. "We’re taking this philosophy of ‘we’re spending money and we’ll worry about how we can afford it later.’”
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