City budget includes pay raises, new employees

City employees will have a little extra in their paychecks next year thanks to across-the-board raises implemented by the Plano City Council.

The raises were included in the $425 million budget approved Monday night, a budget that doesn't include a property tax rate increase. Non-civil service employees will receive a 3-percent raise, while civil service employees will get 2 percent. The move comes on the heels of a 2-percent raise given to all employees last year.

"We have cut over 100 positions over the last three or four budget years totaling $39 million," said City Manager Bruce Glasscock. "Part of what we are doing is making sure we remain competitive and we are able to retain the employees that we have and that we can attract the best employees we can attract."

On top of the raises, the budget also earmarks $1.9 million for labor and skilled workers. Budget Director Karen Rhodes-Whitley said workers have been taking jobs in other cities for as little as 25 cents more an hour, and this is a way to potentially put a halt to the exodus. While the program to dole out the $1.9 million has not been officially adopted, Rhodes-Whitley said it could result in workers who pass their evaluations receiving small raises in order to keep them in Plano.

"We have spent time and money training them, we don't want to lose them," she said.

The city will also hire 30 new employees during the upcoming fiscal year, including 15 firefighters and 15 employees split between the police department and public works.

"We want to restore services in those areas where we have made reductions and were starting to see some diminished service levels," Glasscock said. "The departments were saying we needed to put crews back into public works for sidewalk and street repairs as well as sewer line inspections and parks monitoring."

The new positions and raises will be paid for without raising taxes, thanks to an increase in revenue from property taxes and sales taxes, Glasscock said, adding that the city is seeing a growth in new property development.

For the upcoming budget year, $81.5 million in revenue, or 38 percent of the city's total revenue, comes from property taxes, while $59 million, 28 percent, comes from sales tax. The remaining $71.8 million comes from a combination of other revenues, budget documents show.

The city's new fiscal year begins Oct. 1.

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