Albany Commission looks at public safety raises, COVID-related incentives for employees

ALBANY — A package of Albany city employee incentives that includes payouts for working through COVID-19, getting vaccinated and earning a degree or certifications and raises for public safety employees will come up for a vote next week.

The Albany City Commission discussed the package that would add $2.9 million to the city’s $290 million budget on Tuesday, with an eye toward voting on the programs individually. Pay proposals, which include a 2 percent raise for fire, police and some utility workers, also were recommended by interim City Manager Steven Carter, who made the recommendations after consulting with commissioners.

One of the proposals would reward workers with pay for working jobs that involved frequent contact with the public or other hazards associated with doing their jobs during the pandemic. It would reward full-time hazard pay bonuses in the amount of $1,500 and $750 for part-time employees as well as a $500 bonus for workers whose jobs are not deemed to involve hazard from the pandemic.

An alternate proposal would have awarded $1,000 each to full- and part-time employees working in positions deemed hazardous during the pandemic and $500 to the remainder of employees.

About 626 employees would qualify for $1,500 payouts, 30 for $750 and 341 for $500, the city’s CFO Derrick Brown told commissioners.

“When citizens call 911, we expect an officer to show up,” Ward IV Commissioner Chad Warbington said. “My garbage gets picked up every week. Those services have continued to be delivered.”

Other workers, such as tellers, deal face-to-face with a large volume of individuals making payments, Ward I Commissioner Jon Howard said.

Commissioner B.J. Fletcher said that some residents may not react positively to pay a bonus for workers to do their jobs.

“With all due respect, I live in a world where over the past 18 months people didn’t receive paychecks,” the Ward III commissioner said. “This is just a little difficult for me to understand, basically to stay on their jobs, when I know plenty of people who would (love) to have a job.”

The $500 incentives for getting vaccinated would follow the practice of the Dougherty County Commission, which approved $300 payments to employees who provide proof of vaccination, and the Dougherty County School Board, which approved a $1,000 incentive in August. The payments would be retroactive for all who have been fully vaccinated and for those who receive both vaccine shots prior to the end of the work day on Nov. 15.

Other incentives included in the package include reimbursement to employees who earn required certifications at a maximum of $750 or 1.5 times the value of the highest rated certification for those who earn multiple certifications.

Workers who earn a college or university degree that is applicable to their job could receive payments of $500 for an associate’s degree, $1,000 for a bachelor’s or $1,500 for a master’s under the proposal.

Funding for the one-time incentive programs would come from money reimbursed to the city by the federal government through for COVID-related expenditures, Carter said.

The commission tasked Brown with providing an estimate of the future costs of permanent pay increases for public safety and utility workers ahead of the Tuesday vote.

Carter made a separate proposal for a $35,000 master plan study for the Albany Civil Rights Institute. Funding would come from the city’s hotel/motel tax, he said.

Staff Photo: Alan MauldinAlanMauldin[email protected]