Bedford mayor seeks pay raises in attempt to stop high turnover rates of employees

Noah Dalton, The Times-Mail
·3 min read
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Bedford Mayor Sam Craig hopes wage increases included in the city budget will stem high turnover rates city departments have experienced in recent years.

The 2023 budget calls for most city employees and officials to receive a 5% increase.

Craig specifically cited Bedford’s police, street and utility departments as offices that have experienced multiple employee departures, likely to pursue higher paying opportunities elsewhere. Bedford budgeted for employee raises in 2021 and 2022, Craig said.

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“Our pay scales still, even with what we gave last year and what we gave them this year, I mean I can’t remember when the city in two years gave an increase to base pay rates. But it seems like we’re still struggling with the competition out there who keep pushing to take all our employees,” Craig said.

Craig's comments came during Monday evening’s Bedford City Council meeting, which included a presentation of the city’s 2023 budget. The budget is estimated at $26.3 million up 33% from the previous year’s total of $19.7 million.

The largest increase in the budget is from American Rescue Plan Act funds that were not listed with the budget for 2022, which accounted for nearly $3 million in the overall budget.

During the meeting, the council also spoke with the heads of various local nonprofits and other organizations who are seeking contributions from the City of Bedford in 2023.

  • White River Humane Society – seeking $52,000

  • Boys and Girls Club – seeking $35,000

  • Lawrence County Economic Growth Council – seeking $50,000

  • Bedford Revitalization – seeking $5,000

  • Stone City Alliance for Recovery and Hope – seeking $25,000

  • Fathers Forever – seeking $15,000

  • Green Hill Cemetery – seeking $68,000

Line-item totals

The totals for each fund in the 2023 budget for Bedford can be found below:

  • General - $12,711,849, up from $11,798,520 in 2022

  • Fire department pension - $531,601, down from $547,212 in 2022

  • Police department pension - $488,823, down from $536,293 in 2022

  • Local road and street - $120,000, same as 2022

  • Highway - $2,705,824, up from $2,196,629 in 2022

  • Parks - $2,267,010, up from $2,038,275 in 2022

  • Cumulative capital IMP (cig tax) - $50,000, same as 2022

  • Cumulative capital development - $400,000, same as 2022

  • ARPA - $2,994,197, not listed in 2022

  • Otis trust fund - $5,000, same as 2022

  • John Lowery pool - $41,500, up from $38,000 in 2022

  • Park N/R fund - $89,050, down from $114,850 in 2022

  • N/R golf carts - $63,752, up from $48,752 in 2022

  • N/R Otis Park - $70,100, down from $96,017 in 2022

  • TIF bond and interest - $2,669,036, up from $746,488 in 2022

  • Law enforcement education - $27,700, same as 2022

  • LOIT for public safety - $1,109,341, up from $981,119 in 2022

The adoption of the 2023 budget is scheduled for Oct. 17, 7 p.m., at Stonegate Arts and Education Center, 931 15th St.

This article originally appeared on The Times-Mail: City of Bedford proposes 5 percent raises for most employees