The city of Columbus is looking at raising its ad valorem tax levy by at least 1 mill for the next fiscal year, according to Chief Financial Officer James Brigham.
Brigham, during a Thursday Columbus City Council work session, also said he is building in a 4 percent “across the board” pay raise for city employees in next year’s budget.
Brigham said he is currently recommending a net millage increase of 1.21 mills, with a mill estimated to bring in about $195,000. About 1 mill of the increase is for operations, and the remainder would be for debt service.
The new fiscal year starts Oct. 1, and councilmen must approve a budget by mid-September.
The mill increase in the operational budget is necessary both to fund the projected pay raises, because of the overall cost increases for pretty much everything, Brigham said.
Brigham estimated the pay raises would cost the city about $520,000 annually. He said the majority of the pay raise can be funded with existing revenues, but the tax increase would help fund the rest.
Brigham said he had built the 4 percent raise into the budget he was preparing, but Ward 5 Councilman Stephen Jones pressed him to also look harder at the city’s lowest-paid employees.
“I would like to see an increase for anyone making less than $12.50 an hour,” Jones said. “They can go to Chick-fil-A or Kentucky Fried Chicken and make more than what they make in the city. I’m fine with (across the board raises), but I want to look at those people who make less than ($12.50).”
Brigham said he would look at bringing low-paid employees up to $12.50, but would “have to do some modeling” to see how the numbers played out. After the meeting, Brigham told The Dispatch there are 89 employees making less than $12.50 an hour.
Ward 1 Councilwoman Ethel Taylor Stewart agreed with Jones.
“We’re having a lot of employees go to these (surrounding) cities because their salaries are higher,” she said.
Mayor Keith Gaskin said he wants to look at how Columbus salaries compared to other places.
“We’re also requesting information from the Stennis (Institute of Government at Mississippi State University) to see where our pay is compared to other municipalities our size,” he said. “Before we talk about these numbers we need to look at that data…We need to be able to explain to the citizens why these are necessary increases.”
Gaskin said he also wants to look at Lowndes County, particularly how it has historically eliminated positions through attrition and consolidated responsibilities.
“The county’s strategy over the years has been to look at retirements,” he said. “That’s something that most organizations do. They re-evaluate if things have changed, if the responsibilities can be put somewhere else and if we actually need those positions anymore.”
Gaskin said he would like to see $12.50 “be like the city’s minimum wage.”
Last year the city tried to give a 3 percent pay raise, but those plans were scuttled at the 11th hour by the discovery of a budgeting error.
Brigham said the increase for debt service was necessary because of the way the debt is structured.
“When I look at the way the general obligation bonds are set up, the principal increases (yearly) rather than a straight amortization,” he said.
Chief Operations Officer Jammie Garrett said times for public budget hearings will be set at Tuesday’s council meeting.
Police chief search committee
The selection of members for a committee that will search for a replacement for Police Chief Fred Shelton will also be taken up Tuesday, Gaskin said.
Shelton is retiring Aug. 15, and Assistant Chief Doran Johnson will serve as interim chief while a search is conducted. On July 19 the council voted to set up a 10-person committee, with four members coming from the community, to begin the search for Shelton’s replacement.
Gaskin said the makeup of that committee will be decided Tuesday night. He said that there was a prospective list of members, but he declined to release it until next week.
“Not all of the council members have seen it yet,” he said Thursday afternoon.
Gaskin also said he wanted to see the chief’s salary raised from its current rate of $72,000 and said he would be making a proposal to the council Tuesday.
Brian Jones is the local government reporter for Columbus and Lowndes County.
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