Abbeville Council Approves Worker Pay Increase

At last night's meeting of the Abbeville City Council plans were approved to give city workers a pay raise. That raise is being funded by a voter-approved sales tax. The tax was voted on in May, instituted in October, and by January will become a slightly larger number on Abbeville city workers paychecks.

The half-cent sales tax that was approved by voters in May is expected to add $1.4 million dollars to the city coffers annually. The increase brings the city's sales tax rate to 10.45%.

The first round of pay increases will take effect on January 2nd and police and fire employees will be the first to notice an increase in their pay. The way the math works out the increase will be about $500 a month for employees covered by this particular pay increase.

The second round of raises is slated to take effect on January 9th. That pay increase will go to all municipal employees. The total cost of the pay increases is expected to total $1.1 million dollars. That will leave a bit of a surplus left over for other projects and expenditures.