The Jackson City Council adopted a budget this week (Tuesday, Sept. 14) that represents a 12.1 percent decrease from its operating budget last year. With the newly adopted budget, city employees don’t have to worry about taking furlough days nor being laid off. However, they shouldn’t expect a pay raise either.
In a 5-2 vote, the council approved Mayor Harvey Johnson’s budget of $313.6 million despite objections from Ward 3 Councilman Kenneth Stokes and Ward 1 Councilman Jeff Weill.
Stokes wanted to include pay raises for city employees. “I voted against this budget because it doesn’t include raises for city employees and they are the backbone of this city,” Stokes said. Stokes wanted to use the increase to raise the pay of most city workers $500.
Earlier this year, Johnson delivered a budget address that included the catch phrase ‘right-sizing city government.’
“Right-sizing city government will involve us cutting waste; rethinking our processes and working within the framework of having measurable goals with progress we can and will share with our citizens,” said Johnson.
This year’s budget also includes:
• Using $29 million in bond proceeds to continue to upgrade the city’s water system.
• The allocation of $1 million for street resurfacing, $1.4 million for sidewalks and $1.1 million for JTRAN bus stops.
• Construction of the Fortification Street Project, design work for the Lynch Street Project, construction of the Jesse Moseley Drive Project and the continuation of the West County Line Road Project.
• In public safety, the budget provides for 500 police officers and includes a police and fire recruit class.
Ward 2 Councilman Chokwe Lumumba, who lobbied for a tax increase that would go towards pay raises for city employees, made it clear that he would not support a budget next year if a pay raise wasn’t included. “I can assure you that I will vote against a budget for fiscal year 2012 if it doesn’t contain pay raises for city employees,” Lumumba said.
Ward 7 Councilwoman Margaret Barrett-Simon, who voted in favor of the new budget said, “balancing a budget in these hard economic times is a tough thing to do. I want to commend Mayor Johnson and his finance team.”
The new budget goes into effect at the start of the new fiscal year, which begins Oct. 1.
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