County brings in more than expected County brings in more than expected Fairfax County officials are planning to give their employees a pay raise with a larger-than-expected surplus announced Monday.
The county reported a surplus of $104 million, and the Board of Supervisors is planning to use $11.3 million of that to give a 1.52 percent pay raise to county employees — the first in several years.
“Our employees have been without a pay raise for three years,” said Supervisor Pat Herrity, R-Springfield. He said he would support the raise, though he would have preferred an incentive-based bonus.
But others opposed the move.
“Salaries have been flat in the private sector for decades,” said Arthur Purves, president of Fairfax County Taxpayers Alliance. “Overall county employees, especially when you consider their retirement benefits, are much better paid than the taxpayers who fund them.”
County Executive Anthony Griffin proposed the pay raise using a formula based on the consumer price index and other economic indicators. The pay raise would not affect supervisors’ salaries, which have been fixed at $75,000 since 2006.
Despite the surplus, Griffin remained cautious about future economic growth in his report to supervisors, saying tax revenues were still below 2008’s revenues.
County officials expect to spend $250,000 of the surplus on the World Police and Fire Games, an Olympics-style event for emergency responders that Fairfax will host in 2015. Surplus money amounting to $200,000 would go to buy more electronic books at Fairfax libraries. Another $284,190 would go to nonprofits working with low-income communities to make up for federal grant cuts. About $3 million would be used to make county buildings more accessible for people with disabilities.
County officials hope to hold another $24.44 million in reserve for fiscal 2013.
The board is expected to make the final vote on what to do with the surplus Sept. 13.
