JONESBORO — Beginning with the first pay period in March, some City of Jonesboro government employees will get more money in their checks.
At its regular meeting Monday, Feb. 12, the Jonesboro City Council unanimously approved to increase the minimum wage for city government employees to $19 per hour.
Jonesboro Mayor Donya Sartor said the bump to $19 per hour will affect 14 employees.
The City had been considering a minimum wage increase and discussed it at a Feb. 5 work session.
In that meeting, Sartor requested to move the minimum wage to $19 per hour.
Also at the Feb. 5 work session, the City Council requested information on how the budget would be affected if the minimum wage was increased — to $19 per hour, to $20 per hour and to $22 per hour.
At the Feb. 12 meeting, Sartor said the City is still working on the budget impact and employees could see another raise within 30 days.
If the rate is raised to $20, it would affect 19 employees and a $22 rate would affect all 20 hourly-wage city government employees, Sartor said.
She also said that according to numbers from the Georgia Department of Labor, $22 per hour is considered a living wage and added that no salaried city employee makes less than $22 per hour.
According to information provided in the Feb. 12 agenda packet, the current lowest hourly rate for city government employees is $15.59. There had been an original proposal to raise the minimum rate to $17.95 per hour and there are currently 10 hourly employees who make below $17.40 per hour.
During the Feb. 5 work session, two individuals spoke to the Council during the public comments section of the meeting — Amanda Rivera and Logan Matthews.
Both are a Starbucks employees and members of Starbucks Workers United with Rivera saying she appreciated the City Council considering raising the minimum wage.
“I very much believe…
Read the full article here
