Jackson Free Press

Despite getting news from an independent consultant that the wage structure the Jackson City Council approved last year might break the bank, supporters of the higher wages are hopeful that the numbers can work.

"We've got until September 15," said Ward 2 Councilman Melvin Priester, who also chairs the Budget Committee, referring to the deadline for completing a spending plan.

"I'm not saying it's going to be painless to make the numbers work, but I'm confident but we've got everyone focused on this."

Last fall, the council upped the minimum wage from the federal level of $7.25 to $8.75 per hour within a year. After two years, it would go up to $9.70 and $10.65 after three years.

At the time, Mayor Tony Yarber was concerned about the ripple effect of changing the rate structure and called for a wage study.

John Jordan, a principal with consulting firm Core Learning LLC, completed the $25,750 study of the compensation structure and told council members May 26 that the City might not be able to afford the new minimum wage.

"To be brutally honest, you have caused yourself a financial problem," he said.

When full implemented, the Jackson wage increase will cost about $300,000 per year. The wage restructuring drew unanimous support on the council, whose members believed the comparatively low wages at the city creates low morale and competition from surrounding cities.

In Hinds County, a household with two adults and two school-aged children would need to bring in approximately $55,000 to cover basic monthly expenses and build modest savings for retirement and emergencies, the Mississippi Economic Policy Center reports.

In Jackson, where local government is one of the biggest employers, when government workers are underpaid, it can undermine economic progress, officials say.

"Our best and brightest get cherry picked," said Ward 6 Councilman Tyrone Hendrix, who pushed for the new, higher minimum wage.

"If we want our roads paved, if we want potholes fixed then we have to have the personnel to get it done."

A County-Wide Concern

Hinds County is also hand-wringing over the effects of low wages in a key agency that has drawn scrutiny in recent weeks. After the release of a damning report from the U.S. Justice Department concerning conditions at Hinds County jails, officials are eyeing changes to the pay structure for guards.

On May 21, the DOJ published the results of a year-long investigation finding that Hinds County violates the constitutional rights of prisoners by failing to protect them from violence and by holding them beyond their court-ordered release dates.

The report notes that the county jails—one in downtown Jackson and another in Raymond—are not only understaffed, but that inexperienced and inadequately trained staff sometimes unnecessarily use force on prisoners.

This morning, board President and District 3 Supervisor Peggy Hobson Calhoun recommended pay increases for detention officers to make Hinds County more competitive with surrounding counties that pay more.

"They put their lives in danger each time they come through the detention-center doors," Calhoun said this morning.

Hinds County detention officers have a starting salary of around $18,000 per year and earn an average of $22,000 per year, Calhoun said. Comparatively, jailers in Rankin and Madison counties earn an average of $23,254 and $24,876, respectively, Calhoun said.

The relatively low salaries in Hinds County make it difficult to attract and retain staff. Alleged misconduct of Hinds jail employees have brought harsh criticism to the county and to Sheriff Tyrone Lewis, whose office runs the day-to-day operations of the jails but does not control the finances.

In recent weeks, a jailer was terminated for sleeping on the job, and two detention officers were arrested and charged with helping prisoners escape from the downtown Jackson facility.

The Mississippi Department of Corrections also sped up the transfer of more than 40 prisoners from the county-state work program over concerns about the Justice Department investigation.

The DOJ also took a sample of 100 people booked into the jail in the past year and found that it held 12 of those people past their ordered release date because of staffing reductions and reassignments, broken fax machines and out-of-date software, and jail employees not understanding the language in court orders.

The report points out that the current jail administration removed books explaining the language of judicial dispositions.

District 1 Supervisor Robert Graham said the DOJ did not recommend increasing salaries.

"The DOJ said there needs to be more guards, not to pay them more," Graham said. "It's my estimation that (jailer salaries) do need to be upgraded, but we need to think about all our employees. To give them a raise would not be fiscally responsible."

Graham said the county should hold off on any salary increases until the next round of budget negotiations. The board took no action on the jail salary issue.

Priorities, Priorities

If it comes down to making hard choices to make the budget numbers work, council President De'Keither Stamps, who also co-sponsored the minimum-wage plan, wants to look at per-employee spending.

For example, he said when he joined the council in 2013, he was issued a desktop computer and iPad, but only uses his iPad; he has also tried unsuccessfully to eliminate bi-weekly special council meetings, at which council members approve claims and payroll.

Stamps believes that the time city employees spend at special meetings could be better spent working on other things.

Councilman Priester points to another independent report, which Raftelis Financial Consultants completed for the city in February. It highlighted cash-flow problems and possible fraud at the city's Water and Sewer Business Administration.

The Raftelis report estimates that approximately 12 percent of water and sewer revenues goes uncollected, about $9.8 million per year.

"There's a reason that we don't have enough people to answer the phones," Priester said.

Priester added that he is encouraged that the council is starting to talk about the budget earlier than usual.

"I just strongly believe if we can find money for all these consultants, we can find money to increase salaries," Priester said.