Mayor George Flaggs said Monday there’s too much disparity in pay between city employees, and he’s going to do something to reduce the gaps.

Flaggs said he plans to take several measures to narrow the gaps. One involves raising the city’s minimum wage a third time across the board, but before he does that, “I’m going to re-evaluate every employee and his salary before I give another raise. I’m going to close the disparity and then I’m going to do something across the board.”

He would not give a schedule when he would act.

Flaggs said the decision to re-evaluate employee pay came after reviewing a proposal to raise the starting pay for new police officers.

When comparing starting police officer’s pay with a firefighter’s starting pay, he said, new officers were making more money than their counterparts in the fire department.

“We have closed the gap some, but we have not closed it enough,” he said, adding there is a similar disparity in pay among employees in the public works department — some in the same department.

Flaggs announced his plan before Monday’s meeting of the Board of Mayor and Aldermen.

“I want to apologize to the people of Vicksburg because I committed to giving an additional raise to the police officers raising their base pay,” he said. “I cannot in good conscious give any more raises until we work the disparities in all the raises in the public works department, in the fire department, there are some gross disparities in the pay adjustments.

“And until we can work it out, I just think as mayor I cannot do it (give raises) and I will not do it, because all of us are just as important to this city as anyone. Until we can close the disparities, I’m going to have to cease on giving pay raises.”

No raises for board

Flaggs said the board has stopped giving itself a raise every other year. The board’s periodic raises were set by city ordinance, and its last raise was in July. The board has decided not to continue the practice.

“We’ve given three (employee) pay raises in the last five years,” he said. “Another thing we’ve got to do and look at is raising the minimum wage again. Everybody who works for the city is entitled to a good quality of life and a good paying salary.

“If I misled somebody (about raises), I apologize, but I can’t do it. I’ve looked at the raises between the police and the fire department entry level and there’s a disparity. There was a disparity when I got here, and there may be a disparity when I leave here, but there is no need for me to increase the disparity.”

Flaggs added, public safety is vital to the city and the progress of the city, “So is every employee in my opinion. Until that man in a ditch on a cold, dreary morning with a shovel in his hand gets what he’s due, then I don’t think me with a three-piece suit and a nice looking tie ought to get any more.”