The Athens-Clarke County Mayor and Commission are set to hold a budget review this evening at 5:30.
Pay raises are a priority in the proposed budget with many ACC employees set to see a boost in their pay. But, some are worried that employees of the Athens Regional Library System will be left out in the cold.
"Last year, the Commission acted to raise the minimum wage for all county employees to $15.00 an hour," Edwards said. "Unfortunately, since the library is organized under the Board of Regents, that increase did not take effect [for library employees]."
Edwards says the ACC government is allotting over $400,000 to bring all employees up to $15.00 an hour. In addition, county employees will see a 7% cost of living adjustment. Public safety personnel like firefighters and police officers are paid differently than other county employees, but also stand to benefit.
"[The public safety STEP plan] basically creates a years-long salary schedule so that our new hires as they go through their careers, every year of service will put them in a new pay scale with an automatic increase," Edwards said.
That could make Athens a more attractive community for law enforcement officers.
"Hopefully, [it will] enhance recruitment. We now have about a 26, 27 percent vacancy rate in our police officers, so we're always looking for new ways to make this a better place to work," said Edwards.
