Pay raises coming for Lexington County workers

The first pay raises in four years for Lexington County’s 1,700 employees are included in a $167 million spending plan given tentative approval Tuesday.

Those raises are part of the plan awaiting final County Council approval June 21.

No outline of how the raises will be given has been announced, although the increases will come from a pool of about $2.7 million.

The raises come as county workers soon start paying more for pensions, as ordered by the Legislature.

While the raises coming are for county workers across-the-board, some previously received pay hikes through promotions and salary adjustments designed to match the market for their job skills.

Homeowners and businesses will pay slightly higher property taxes for county services in the year starting July 1.

The tax hike will be $1.66 on a home valued at $100,000. It’s the fifth time in the past six years that taxes rose less than $2 on that home.

Most of the tax increase will pay for five more deputies, 15 additional firefighters and 20 extra paramedics.

The spending plan was approved 6-3, with council members Erin Long Bergeson of Chapin, Darrell Hudson of Lexington and Ned Tolar of West Columbia opposed.

Bergeson and Hudson want to trim spending for economic development and public works instead of raising taxes, while Tolar declined to specify why he opposed the spending plan.

This story was originally published June 13, 2017 at 7:42 PM with the headline "Pay raises coming for Lexington County workers."