Burlington Reporter

The Burlington City Council has voted to give 6% pay raises to most full-time city employees, The Alamance News reported.

The raises will take effect Friday, April 1. 

The city currently has 67 employment vacancies, and officials hope the increase will help keep the employees they already have and attract new employees. The city initially wanted to give raises only to city’s administrative assistants and water resources staff.  

In January, the council approved raises for the police department, which was experiencing high turnover, according to The Alamance News. The January raises amounted to $7,271 annually for 121 sworn police officers and $7,904 for 18 dispatchers. The new round of raises covers 461 non-police employees also who were not covered by the January pay hikes.

As it was raising police salaries in January, the city acknowledged that other city departments were also experiencing high employee turnover.

City Finance Director Peggy Reece told the City Council that she is hoping the raises can help reduce staffing shortages.

“Everybody around us has done increases,” she told The Alamance News. "And we’re just  trying to provide the good services that our employees have come to expect, as well as trying to keep the good employees that we have.”