Dawson’s salary list reveals a two-tier city where command pay outpaced inflation while frontline workers fell behind

DAWSON — A review of eight years of city of Dawson salary records reveals a widening divide in employee compensation. The city’s salary schedule shows the largest pay increases are concentrated among leadership, department head and supervisory positions, while many frontline employees received increases that failed to keep pace with inflation, leaving the city’s payroll increasingly divided between those whose earnings accelerated and those whose purchasing power stagnated or declined.

The city has not produced records explaining why individual salaries changed, making it impossible to determine how much of those increases resulted from promotions, reclassifications or raises.

The disparity comes as the city faces mounting financial pressure. Its Fiscal Year 2026 budget counted at least $200,000 in revenue officials later acknowledged the city does not actually collect. Its annual audit remains incomplete. And at the July 9 City Council meeting, where those financial issues were discussed, the council voted to set the city manager’s salary at $75,000, along with a $600 monthly travel allowance, a city-paid phone plan and a six-month performance review that could increase the salary to $82,000.

A review of the city’s current salary schedule, cross-referenced with publicly available 2018 payroll records and statewide wage data published by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, shows a compensation structure that has become increasingly uneven over the past eight years. The largest increases are concentrated in police command, supervisory and administrative positions, several of which nearly doubled over the period, while many firefighters, police officers, water department employees, dispatchers and utility workers remain paid below statewide occupational averages and, in many cases, below the rate needed to keep pace with inflation.

The city has produced no adopted pay scale, compensation study or supporting documentation explaining how employee salaries were established.

Seventeen current employees could be matched to the city’s 2018 payroll records published through the public payroll database OpenGovPay. The largest increases were concentrated almost entirely among command, supervisory and administrative positions. A police captain’s annualized pay increased approximately 93.7%, a police lieutenant’s rose 86.4%, the police chief’s compensation increased 85.6%, a court supervisor’s salary climbed 83.4% and a police corporal’s compensation increased 76%.

The 2026 figures were calculated by annualizing the hourly rates listed on the city’s salary schedule using a standard 2,080-hour work year. Because the 2018 records do not consistently identify job titles, some employees likely occupied lower-ranking positions at that time, meaning portions of those increases may reflect promotions rather than raises within the same position. The city has not produced records that distinguish between the two.

Even when accounting for promotions, those compensation increases substantially exceeded inflation. Consumer prices have risen roughly 33% between 2018 and mid-2026, meaning employees receiving increases of 75 to 94% experienced real gains in purchasing power of roughly one-third to nearly one-half after inflation.

Whether those changes resulted from promotions, merit increases or reclassifications is precisely what the city’s missing records would clarify. Without a published compensation plan or personnel documentation, there is no public record showing when the increases were approved, who authorized them or what criteria were used.

At the opposite end of the salary schedule, several long-serving frontline employees experienced increases that failed to match inflation, effectively reducing their purchasing power despite earning more nominally than they did eight years earlier.

A fire captain’s pay increased only 10.7% between 2018 and 2026, representing an estimated 17% decline in real purchasing power after inflation. A wastewater treatment operator employed by the city for more than two decades received an 18.4% increase, equivalent to an estimated 11% loss in purchasing power. A fire lieutenant’s compensation increased 23.8%, amounting to roughly a 7% decline in real terms. Communications personnel and additional fire department supervisors also received increases that did not keep pace with inflation.

Several of the smallest increases were not individualized raises at all. Four of the five employees assigned to the water department now earn exactly $12 per hour, suggesting their compensation reflects the city’s adopted wage floor rather than position-specific adjustments. One longtime water department employee’s pay increased 31.9% over the eight-year period, still falling short of inflation despite years of service.

Compared with statewide occupational averages published by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Dawson’s frontline compensation also lags significantly. Firefighters earn between $14 and $14.63 per hour compared with a statewide average of $21.24. Police officers generally earn $18.50 per hour, with one earning as little as $14.75, compared with a statewide average of $27.02. Water department employees earn between $12 and $15.42 per hour, well below the statewide average of approximately $23.60 for comparable water treatment occupations. Fire supervisors earn between $18.81 and $19.85 per hour, roughly 40% below the statewide average for comparable supervisory positions.

Those statewide figures are broad benchmarks and include larger municipal employers with different pay structures. However, the Georgia Department of Community Affairs publishes a municipal wage and salary survey specifically intended to help cities compare compensation among similarly sized governments. The city has produced no evidence that it relied upon such a study when establishing its current pay rates.

The salary schedule also shows unexplained differences among employees holding identical job titles. One police officer earns $14.75 per hour while others receive $18.50. One fire lieutenant earns $19.26 while two others receive $18.81. Without an adopted pay scale or written compensation policy, neither employees nor taxpayers have any way to determine why those differences exist.

Structure now matters because payroll has become the city’s largest recurring expense. During the July 9 council meeting, City Manager Roxie Powell told council members payroll totals approximately $200,000 each month — about $2.4 million annually — while monthly revenue has fluctuated between approximately $349,000 and $451,000. During weaker revenue months, payroll consumes well over half of the city’s recurring income.

The city manager attributed payroll growth to recent pay increases, implementation of the city’s minimum wage adjustment and overtime built into certain employee schedules, though which employees are eligible for overtime remains unclear. During the same meeting, the city announced a hiring freeze, suspended discretionary spending and elected to leave the city clerk position vacant, a move expected to save approximately $70,000 annually, while simultaneously seeking authority to borrow between $400,000 and $420,000 to maintain operations. No supporting financial records were presented at the meeting.

Council member Sondra Walker requested a staffing report showing pay rates for all city employees. The salary schedule reviewed for this article appears to be that report, although it was provided without any accompanying compensation policy, salary study or explanation of how wages were determined.

The payroll discussion comes as Dawson remains under a state enforcement order tied to its wastewater system. As previously reported by The Albany Herald, Georgia’s Environmental Protection Division escalated years of sewage violations into a 2024 consent order after the city accumulated dozens of permit violations and multiple sewage spills. Missing the extended construction deadline in 2028 could expose the city to penalties of up to $100,000 per day. The city manager told council members the wastewater treatment plant remains one of Dawson’s largest operating expenses, while utility rates have not been increased since 2011.

The city’s audit also remains unfinished. During the July 9 meeting, one council member questioned how the city could borrow money without completed financial statements. The city attorney responded that a loan secured by the city’s certificates of deposit would not require a completed audit.

The Dawson News requested personnel action forms documenting promotions and reclassifications, salary histories, adopted pay scales, overtime records and council minutes approving compensation changes in order to distinguish promotions from raises and explain how salaries were established. At the time of publication, the city had not responded to those requests.

Until those records are produced, the city’s own salary schedule remains the only public accounting of how Dawson compensates its workforce, and it depicts a city where compensation has grown fastest among management and command staff while many of the employees providing essential public services have struggled to keep pace with inflation.