The City of Newton’s projected budget for fiscal year 2018 is including a three-percent pay raise across the board for all city employees.
Mayor Murray Weems said the increase doesn’t include the salaries of the mayor and aldermen. This comes a year after only two employees received pay raises.
The city increased the salaries of City Clerk Charlene Evans and Fire Chief J.C. Collins to just over $40,000 so that they could stay salaried employees and would be exempt from overtime.
This year’s city budget will increase about $5,650 over the current 2017 budget.
The budget also provides for the fire department to hire one additional firefighter. Weems also said he wanted to start budgeting for vehicle replacements, including a new fire truck and replacing the fleet of the police department on a regular schedule.
Weems said they will start putting back money for a new fire truck, which would cost around $500,000.
In other business, the board:
• Approved its tax equalization rolls totaling $29,023,523, a decrease of $700,000 from last year.
• Set its 2017 tax levy at 32 mills for the general fund and 3 mills for street paving.
• Approved the tax rolls.
• Allowed the city to add Weems and Evans to all city bank accounts while deleting former Mayor David Carr and former City Clerk Ann Mapp.
• Opened a checking account at BankFirst for the EDA project in the names of Weems and Evans.
• Agreed to close Brown Avenue, which is located near Smash Fitness so that the company can use the property for an expansion.
• Approved Alderwoman Linda Wash to attend CMO elective class in Pearl, Evans to attend the small town conference in Oxford Oct. 25-26 and assistant clerk Savannah Martin to attend the municipal clerk program in Pearl.
• Accepted the city’s commercial insurance bid from Scott Insurance Company for $34,133.
• Chose not to take extra uninsured motorist coverage from the Mississippi Municipal Service Company.
• Approved advertising for the Central Mississippi Residential Center fall festival.
• Agreed to bill Shoronda Moore for the cleanup of property she owns.
• Hired Michelle Addy as a part time dispatcher for $8 an hour.
• Will send Precious Buckley to the police training academy. The cost will be reimbursed to the city upon completion of the program.
• Hired Brandon Sullivan as a full-time firefighter at $8 an hour.
• Paid its bills totaling $132,692.89.
