RAISES PART OF NEW CHAFFEE BUDGET

CHAFFEE -- All city workers have received at least $750 more in their annual salaries with the adoption of a budget for the new fiscal year that started Saturday.

The Chaffee City Council also has approved $1,000 annual increases for the heads of three departments and two City Hall employees.

In addition, two employees received more than a $1,000 raise because of increased job skills or responsibilities.

Before approving the budget Monday, the council raised the mayor's salary from $125 to $175 per month. That will apply to the winning mayor in Tuesday's election.

The pay for council members beginning new terms this month was also increased from $20 to $30 per meeting. Council members in the middle of their two-year terms will continue to receive $20 per meeting.

Councilman Bill Cannon, a mayoral candidate, voted for the pay increases for mayor and council members. Since three council members were absent, all five councilmen present had to vote yes for the proposed increases to pass. A raise in the mayor's salary would have had to wait for another four years if the measure wasn't approved before Tuesday's election.

Employees receiving $1,000 raises and their new salaries were: Jerry Bledsoe, police chief, $22,843; Jack Martin, street department superintendent, $22,200; Steve Felty, waste department superintendent, $20,300; Diane Eftink, city clerk, $17,100 plus $20 per meeting attended; and Theresa Fuller, city collector, $17,100.

The $750 increases brought the salaries for city patrolmen to $17,836. Dispatchers' salaries moved to $13,730. Employees in their first year of probation will receive $1,000 less per year.

The new budget has about $50,000 more in expenditures than the last fiscal year. About 70 percent of this is necessary to meet increased tipping fees charged by area landfills to handle the city's solid waste, said Councilman Tom Cunningham, chairman of the city's finance committee.

Revenues and expenditures are nearly in balance with the new budget, Cunningham said. Total revenues for the fiscal year are estimated at $1,092,450 while expenditures are projected at $1,091,680.

The council also adopted an ordinance to allow for billing sewer services on a flat monthly rate. The council set the sewer rate for the new MFA fertilizer facility in the industrial park at $20 per month.