Most department heads with city getting raises|[4/29/06]

Published 12:00 am Monday, May 1, 2006

Seventeen of Vicksburg’s 18 department heads will receive 2 percent pay raises on their next checks, city officials announced Friday.

The 18th, city strategic planner Paul Rogers, will receive no increase, South Ward Alderman Sid Beauman said.

&#8220We do Paul on more of a contract scenario,” Beauman said.

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Rogers received a $50,000 raise in October, bringing his annual salary to about $150,000.

Raises for department heads were not included in the merit pay raises handed out in February to most of the city’s 530 employees.

&#8220What we told our division heads was once we got through February we were going to revisit whether we’re going to be able to do raises for the division heads,” Beauman said. &#8220We worked on it, and that’s what we came up with.”

The decision for the raises apparently was made late Thursday in an unannounced meeting of the Board of Mayor and Aldermen.

Human resources director Lamar Horton said the raises will cost the city $24,000 annually and were made possible because of an increase in sales tax receipts.

In March, the city received $606,421 in sales tax rebates from the state, an increase of 6 percent over last year.

&#8220Because of the tight budget year we delayed any decision on the department heads until first quarter tax reports were in,” Horton said.

City officials allocated $150,000 to the merit pay raises distributed earlier in the year.

The three elected officials, whose pay is set by ordinance, did not receive pay raises. The mayor and aldermen awarded themselves raises in 2002, which included automatic 5 percent increases during the second and third years of the administration, which began in July.

Currently, the mayor is paid $73,500 and each alderman, $58,800.

Those receiving raises are in the following deparments: building maintenance, city clerk’s office, city garage, community service, human resources, inspection, information technology, planning, purchasing, recreation grounds, parks and recreation programs, communications, public works, legal, water and gas, police and fire.