Fayetteville May Raise Taxes To Keep City Workers

City employees say they are tired of being at the bottom of the pay scale compared to other North Carolina cities the size of Fayetteville.

City employee Charlotte Coley says the city has lost two people in the last week because of low pay.

"We just want to be heard, and we want to know what is going on," says city employee Charlotte Coley. "We want what everyone else is going to get. We are just as equal as they are."

City Manager Roger Stancil discussed next year's budget proposal for city council members at a meeting Monday evening. The proposal includes an 11 to 18 percent increase for city employees and law enforcement officers.

Stancil says offering competitive salaries and pay scales to city employees could stop the high turnover rate.

"This is a problem that we have citywide," Stancil says.

According to an official from the Fayetteville Police Department, the department is down by 20 officers due to low pay. Under the new proposal, the starting salary for Fayetteville police officers would increase from $24,500 to $28,000. That would put them at the same level as the Cumberland County Sheriff's Department, to which the police department has been losing officers.

The tax increase is part of a $75 million budget proposal that could mean an extra $20 a year in property taxes. The public will get their chance to voice their opinion about the new budget proposal on June 5.