Mount Carmel BMA approves 1st reading of budget with employee raises, no tax hike

The Mount Carmel Board of Mayor and Aldermen approved the first reading of its 2024-25 fiscal year budget on April 25 with no tax hike, and a 5% salary increase for city employees.

The budget is projected to end the next fiscal year with a fund balance in excess of $8 million.

The BMA will consider the second and final reading of the budget when it meets in regular session on May 23.

The proposed budget includes $230,000 for a street sweeper for Public Works, options for road improvement, and general upkeep and improvements to the town.

City Manager Emily Wood previously reported that the 2024-25 budget would focus on the city demonstrating a “buy-in” for the town to encourage businesses to move in.

Not everyone agrees that a 5% increase is necessary for city workers. Concerns over the road paving left some citizens at the April 25 BMA meeting unhappy with the first reading on the budget.

“I wholeheartedly agree with raises,” said Alderman Mindy Shugart. “Any boost of income that can help (our employees) get to a living wage- I’m all for it.”

‘Maintain the cost of living’

Alderman John Gibson said the city based its decision off of the Consumer Price Index to gauge its raise.

Gibson added, “If you don’t (give a raise), then you’re asking your employees to take a pay cut every year because of the rate of inflation that we’re at.”

Gibson suggested if the city didn’t give raises, Mount Carmel would eventually face a labor shortage because employees would be pushed out to find better paying jobs elsewhere.

“We’re trying to just maintain the cost of living that Social Security index is at, which is still 2.8 percent higher,” Gibson noted.

Local resident Garret Lyons stated, “When the inflation gets down below 5 percent, then we can consider a less than 5 percent pay raise.”

5% ‘out of the question’

Vice Mayor Tresa Mawk, who abstained from voting, argued against a blanket 5% pay raise. Her initial motion to table the budget failed.

Mawk said some employees deserved a higher raise to bring them to equal footing with others.

“I want to know if every employee’s wage is comparable to what it should be… people who have been here for years and did without raises,” Mawk said. “Maybe they need to be brought up period.”

Others, however, argued that 5% was too high to give workers.

Resident Gary Manson stated, “Five percent is high… (everyone else) is down below 2 percent maybe, if not less. So, upwards of 5 percent is just out of the question.”

Local resident Philip Binstock stated, “Last year, the raises in this country were around 3%. That included people who were promoted, changed jobs, or changed employers. So the real number’s only around 1 percent.”

Mayor Pat Stilwell voted against the budget.

“I know when I was teaching school, we didn’t get no big raise like 5% like we’re asking,” Stilwell added.

A healthy budget

Another big topic for the upcoming fiscal year is road repairs. The city has six roads that can be repaired. Each road was given an estimate for total repairs.

Hammond Avenue would cost $1 million and could be repaired over a five-year period, Atlanta Ave’s estimate was $66,000, Walnut St was $90,000, Dover Ave (partial) was $310,000, Dover Ave (total) was $400,000, and Holston Dr was $55,000.

Currently the budget has $300,000 put aside for road repairs and the BMA will choose what it deems as the best option of those six roads.

Despite concerns, Gibson also assured that Mount Carmel’s budget was in a healthy position.

“There’s a surplus in the budget and a lot of over projections. What we’re spending, revenues are coming in over that. The idea that we’re in a financial downfall or shambles, I don’t understand where that’s coming from,” Gibson said. “The budget is significantly healthy.