Council Committee Votes For Change in Raises

The Cheyenne City Council Committee of the Whole Wednesday night voted for a change in Mayor Rick Kaysen's budget proposal on employee pay raises.

The Mayor is asking for a 2.25 percent raise for all city employees in his fiscal year 2014 budget. But the committee, in the first formal hearing on the budget, voted 4-2 to remove the raises in regard to employees and instead put the money that would have gone for raises into an escrow account until an employee investment study which is already underway can be finished.

Council members Mike Luna, Annette Williams, Sean Allen and Dicky Shanor voted for the proposal while Jim Brown and Georgia Broyles voted no. Council members Bryan Cook and Jimmy Valdez were absent. Last night's vote is not the final word on the budget, however.

The full city council, with Mayor Kaysen also having a vote, must finalize the budget by the end of next month so that it can take effect on July 1.