At a Gainesville City Council work session on Thursday, Dec. 10, Gainesville City Manager Bryan Lackey said a four percent pay raise is planned for City of Gainesville employees starting in January 2021.
The pay raise is currently expected to go into effect the first pay period in January.
Lackey said a pay raise between four and five percent was originally being considered when the fiscal year 2021 budget was being built in March of 2020. However, this idea was halted due to concerns about the economic impacts of COVID-19.
This plan recently resurfaced due to city revenues exceeding what was originally projected, according to Lackey.
“The reality has been much better than our projections … February, we started that trend and we thought it was going to be bad … but then you see what’s happened in March [and] since then. Our revenues have been much stronger, especially on our sales tax,” Lackey said.
Aside from the positive outlook for city revenues, Lackey also said he believed city employees should be rewarded for their work during the pandemic.
“Through COVID this year, they have shown up. You know, our frontline employees with public safety, we talked about sanitation, our water department, they still had to go out into the field and provide services,” Lackey said.
Gainesville Mayor Danny Dunagan agreed with Lackey’s praise for city employees throughout the pandemic.
“It’s a well-deserved raise, and we appreciate everything all of our staff has done during this crazy time in our lives,” Dunagan said.
