Fayetteville city workers to get raises that were deferred due to covid pandemic

FAYETTEVILLE — City employees will get raises this month that were originally planned last spring.

The City Council approved last week a $1.7 million raise package for city staff members. In April, the council held back on approving raises because of economic uncertainty related to the covid-19 pandemic.

Chief Financial Officer Paul Becker said during Thursday’s meeting that the economic impact ended up not being as bad as feared. The city should end the year with more than $30 million in sales tax revenue compared with the $29.3 million in such revenue budgeted for 2020. Sales tax reporting lags about two months.

“I thought we were going to see a major or significant decrease in sales tax in the final quarter of 2020,” Becker said. “I’m more than happy to say I was wrong, and that didn’t happen.”

The city uses a combination of projected growth in sales tax revenue and reserve money to calculate how much in raises to give to employees. Becker projected a deficit of $390,000 in the city’s $49.5 million general fund for 2021, which is about what was projected during the council’s budget session in November.

The raises will not be retroactively implemented, Becker said at the council’s session Dec. 29. The city wouldn’t be able to absorb the cost, he said.

However, depending on economic conditions, the city may be able to provide another round of raises this year, Becker said.

“We are having a pay survey being done as we have previously agreed to,” he said. “We will have to look at the results of that survey and revenues in 2021 and see if we can implement any additional raises sometime in 2021.”

Mayor Lioneld Jordan thanked city’s employees for their patience and keeping city service level at a high rate.