DeKalb ICEO May amends operating budget to fund pay raises

DeKalb Interim CEO Lee May presented a revised 2016 operating budget of $1.337 billion to the Board of Commissioners that would provide additional funding to existing initiatives, including pay raises if approved.

The recommendation allocates $6.5 million for pay increases to be implemented as the second phase of the county’s pay and class study, a research project that analyzed and compared DeKalb salaries with other similar organizations.

Additionally, the administration is taking steps to identify other saving mechanisms.  A $4.6 million reduction in unused salary expenses is being offered from unfilled vacancies to defray departmental mid-year requests.  Other major changes in the 2016 mid-year budget include:

$1.7 M to fund fire alarm upgrades at the jail.

• $802,000 to fund additional road paving, drainage and staffing needs.
• $768,648 to fund restructured communications department, including expansion of 311 and Office of Neighborhood Empowerment and a 311 software upgrade.
• $750,000 to fund the managed competition program.
• $514,000 to fund building maintenance and repair efforts.
• $491,972 to fund library positions to restore library hours.
• $405,597 to fund additional park maintenance and programming needs.
• $435,000 to fund the DeKalb Fire Rescue station maintenance and additional equipment needs.
• $250,000 to fund the creation of an internal SPLOST Project Management Team.
• $150,000 to fund the county’s charter commission.
• $258,761 to fund additional Human Services programming and expanded security needs at senior centers.

The proposed 2016 mid-year budget adjustment can be found at: http://www.dekalbcountyga.gov/finance/pdf/2016MidYearBudgetProposed.pdf