Lexington scrambles to fund proposed pay raises for garbage truck drivers
The Lexington council opted Tuesday to use some of the surplus money it had set aside for council members to spend in their districts to help pay for a $1-per-hour pay raise for garbage truck drivers and other city employees with commercial driver’s licenses.
If given final approval by the Lexington-Fayette Urban County Council on Thursday as expected, 253 employees — including 110 in waste management — will get the pay bump starting in early January.
A council committee had approved the pay raise for those with commercial drivers licenses in October but had not decided how to pay for the promise.
During a Tuesday work session, Mayor Linda Gorton’s administration told the council she intended to fund the pay raises by making cuts to other city divisions. In addition, she said the city will have to find additional money to continue the pay raise in the next fiscal year that begins July 1.
The total amount needed to pay for the increase from 8 cents per hour to $1.08 per hour across city government is $346,789. Only $95,319 will come from the general fund, which is the city’s main checking account. More than half the money will come from the urban services fund, which is a separate tax used to pay for garbage pickup, among other city services.
Finance Commissioner Bill O’Mara said to find the nearly $96,000 in the general fund, the city would cut from building maintenance and other accounts, but that proposal concerned some council members.
“This is one-time money,” said Councilwoman Susan Lamb, who said she supported the pay raise to keep garbage truck and other city employees with commercial drivers licenses. “But I’m having a hard time moving forward with this.”
Councilman Chuck Ellinger Jr. suggested the council instead take $6,000 from roughly $47,000 it had allocated last month to each of the 15 council members out of a surplus for council projects to pay the $96,000 needed for the raise.
That would leave each council member with roughly $41,000 to spend on capital projects in their districts, such as new park equipment, traffic calming devices or paving.
Some council members, though, said they had already promised the entire $47,000 for various projects in their districts.
“I would have to tell somebody that I told ‘yes’ now ‘no,’” said Councilman James Brown.
Councilwoman Angela Evans said she also had another issue with the raises: Of the 253 employees with commercial drivers licenses, the vast majority are men.
Vice Mayor Steve Kay, who is elected at-large or citywide, said he would give the 12 council district members some of his $47,000 if they had already allocated their $47,000. Kay has long pushed for the pay increase as the city has struggled to keep garbage drivers and other city employees with commercial drivers licenses.
But Kay cautioned that the city can no longer cobble money together from various pots to pay for ongoing expenses, such as salaries.
“We can no longer rob Peter to pay Paul,” Kay said.
Councilman Jake Gibbs agreed.
“If we don’t (approve the pay raise), then we won’t have enough drivers to pick up garbage,” Gibbs said. Eventually, the city is going to have to look at raising revenue to provide the services citizens expect, he said.
The council ultimately decided Tuesday not to ask the administration to make additional cuts and will use its pooled surplus money to pay for the pay increase.
After years of rapid growth, the city’s revenue — the amount it collects in taxes and fines — has stagnated. The city’s current-year $379 million budget is based on 15 percent cuts to many city departments.
Dion Henry, president of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees Local 4468, urged the council to move ahead with the pay raises during Tuesday’s meeting. Henry said he has convinced many drivers to stay after the council committee voted in October for the pay raise.
If the council backs down, those drivers will leave for higher-paying private sector jobs, he said. There is a nationwide shortage of people with commercial drivers licenses. Some private firms are paying $5,000 sign-on bonuses, Henry said.
Henry and the city’s solid waste employees have been pushing for changes to how they are paid since December 2018.
“We have 10 to 15 routes down,” Henry said. That means other drivers have to pick up those routes, Henry said.
Javier Perez, a driver with waste services, said most drivers get up at 2:30 a.m. to pick up the city’s garbage and recycling.
And they do a good job, according to the President of the United States, Perez said.
“When President Trump came the first thing he said was ‘Wow, this city is clean.’ And who is cleaning it? Us,” Perez said.
