All full-time employees who work for the city of Milledgeville will get an extra check next week, just in time for a little extra Christmas shopping perhaps.
Those who have worked for the city for more than a year will receive a check for $1,000, while those who have worked for the city less than a year will receive a check for $500 when they get the get their regular pay checks next week, according to City Manager Hank Griffeth.
The extra money comes from the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) 2021, which was signed into law back in March 2021 amid the global COVID-19 pandemic.
Members of Milledgeville City Council convened for an emergency called meeting Friday to vote on the adoption of a resolution establishing retention incentives for essential city employees using funds the city received through ARPA.
During the brief meeting, Mayor Mary Parham-Copelan said she thought it was necessary to go ahead and adopt the resolution.
“It allows our employees to know how much we appreciate the day-to-day work they do every day,” Parham-Copelan said. “For those of us who are up early like me and Dr. Lee, we see these people working hard early in the morning in the ditches, the cold and the rain, while a lot of us are home and asleep in our beds.”
The mayor later asked for a motion to adopt the resolution.
Alderwoman Jeanette Walden made a motion to adopt the resolution as read by caption by City Clerk Bo Danuser. Her motion received a second from Alderwoman Dr. Collinda Lee.
When it came time for a vote, Walden and Lee along Alderwoman Denese Shinholster, as well as Aldermen Walter Reynolds and Steve Chambers voted in favor of adopting the resolution. Shinholster, who was out of town, joined fellow members of city council via conference call.
The adoption of the resolution allows the city of Milledgeville to use such ARPA funds for rewarding eligible essential government employees.
A clause in the resolution reads: “Whereas, it is feared that the city is losing essential workers to other private and government employers that are paying higher wages and that there is a legitimate public need to pay retention incentives under the terms of this resolution.”
The money that city employees receive next week with their regular pay will come as a separate paper check, the city manager said.
“While the retention incentive comes from ARPA money, the city is utilizing general fund money to take care of the FICA fees,” Griffeth said. “The employees will actually realize the full amount of the retention incentive.”
Griffeth said it was a way to let all city employees how much they are appreciated.
“One of the things that COVID created was an odd environment for employment and for keeping staff,” Griffeth said. “And even before COVID, we had started moving people up one step on the salary scale, once they completed their six months probation.”
In closing, Parham-Copelan said, “I am so thrilled and so happy that we have helped to take care of our employee this way and to let them know exactly how much we appreciate them. You can’t put a value on one of them. All of them are appreciated every day.”
