Mills: Goal For New Budget To Step Up Employee Salaries

Stepping up for city employees.

That’s the goal Cookeville City Manager James Mills outlined for city council members as they wrapped up a two-day budget work session Tuesday. Under the proposed $36.8 million budget, employees would receive about a $4,600 raise.

Mills said city employees deserve the increase.

“This council has been very good to our employees over the last two years,” Mills said, “But we need additional help. And we discussed that today about making probably the most impactful pay increase we’ve ever had in the history of the city.”

Savings from the Tennessee Retirement System will help pay for some of the increased expenditures. The city, Cookeville Regional and state officials agreed last year to move former city employees who worked for the medical center to the CRMC account. That decision removed more than $1.5 million from the city payroll.

In addition to helping employees, Mills said the increase will help the city be more competitive with the private sector. He said that the city has faced difficulty hiring and have even had people leave to go to higher-paying jobs.

“And there are really important positions that we’ve got to have and we’re not going to be able to hire without additional salaries,” Mills said. “We’ve been successful in the past but we really need some additional help now so we can stay competitive.”

Mills said that inflation has also affected the city’s budget. He said that increased fuel costs and difficulties getting equipment have been taken into consideration.