Chattanooga City Council confused on raises

photo Chattanooga Mayor Ron Littlefield

Mayor Ron Littlefield and several City Council members were stunned Tuesday night when they found out that not all city employees received an "across-the-board" pay raise.

"This is the first I've heard of this situation, so I'll have to see how many people were affected," Littlefield told the council.

The issue came up at the conclusion of the council's regularly-scheduled business meeting Tuesday night. Stephen West, steward of Service Employees International Union Local 205 and a city Public Works employee, told the council that those employees who had topped out in their pay grade received no 3 percent raise this year.

The City Council approved its 2012-13 operational budget last month. Included in the budget was $1.3 million in raises for city employees.

"At the top out pay, we should still get 3 percent," West said. "I'm sure the people at the top got a raise because they don't have top out pay."

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