The battle over the budget for the city of Monroe was dissolved with a deal. The council agreed to the mayor's original proposal, with the promise of pursuing several items urged by the council. At the top of the list, a plan to increase the minimum wage for city workers.
In his State of the City address, Mayor Jamie Mayo noted it would a delicate discussion in delivering such a strategy. "We have to be patient, and take a common sense approach to raising the wage scale," Mayo told the audience in his State Of The City address last week.
Mayo says he's not opposed to a plan to increase the scale. The city is in a sound fiscal position with a $14.3 million dollar fund balance. He points to five consecutive years of 2 to 4 percent raises for workers. "Since I've been mayor, we've given at least nine raises since I took office. I stated to the council at the beginning of the budget discussion, we're going to make sure we're not going to go outside our revenue," he said.
The minimum wage increase plan would move entry pay from $7.25 to $10 per hour. Monroe's Director of Administration David Barnes says the cost to the city would be about $550,000. If the plan were to include seasonal employees, that figure would jump another $800 thousand, bringing the total cost to around $1.4 million annually.
Some council members, including Chairman Dr. Ray Armstrong, feel a scale would bring a better living wage for lower pay employees. "It goes back to looking at the total health of the community. If you have someone working a full-time job, taking home $15,000 and having to go to the soup kitchen to eat or go to the homeless shelter, that's not healthy for the community," says Armstrong.
The city has seen better revenues in recent years. A record $4.6 million in sales tax was collected last December to close 2104. An annual sales tax revenue gain of $4 million has occurred over the last three years. "It has been growing steadily. Not by leaps and bounds, but steady," says University of Louisiana at Monroe economics professor Dr. Bob Eisenstadt.
Monroe is one of the first cities in the state to begin working toward a minimum wage hike. But the plan, as Mayo suggests, should fairly address those currently at a higher wage. Additionally, union workers are gathered in the group talking about a comprehensive plan.
No timetable is set for a scale plan, but discussions began last week, as Mayo addresses the council's items put forth in the budget deal.
