Fort Worth Workers Hope Budget Includes Pay Raise

FORT WORTH (CBSDFW.COM) - Fort Worth city leaders are getting ready to set the budget. Currently, they're looking at a $23 million revenue shortfall.

Despite the numbers, city workers are watching the economy and praying they still have a chance to get a long overdue pay raise.

Fort Worth city workers have seen city budgets with nothing but bad news since 2008. It's been years of layoffs, furloughs and not even cost of living salary increases.

"They're having to come to work and they're having to pay three or four dollars for a gallon of gas. It's not two dollars and fifty cents any more," city employee Vincent Chasteen said of the workers predicament. "Loaf of bread's gone up, milk's gone up, utilities gone up, so gradually their take home pay is getting picked off as they pay their day-to-day expenses."

But there may be good news in this year's budget.

The amount of the budget shortfall has shrunk from earlier predictions. The projected deficit has gone from $31 million to $23 million.

The current proposed budget has no planned cuts in city services; no tax hikes, and even includes a 3-percent employee pay raise.

To long-suffering city workers a 3-percent hike seems huge. "I'd say they need it pretty bad," Chasteen declared.

While this year's budget would end years of cuts and reductions in city services, it still doesn't provide for restoring neglected areas like public swimming pools. Reopening city pools has become a focal point for Mayor Betsy Price. She says there may be help on the way from the private sector.

"In fact, we will get one or two of our pools open," she said. "We've got some dialogue out in the community with some of our partners and we have a pretty firm commitment. [But] not something we can announce publicly yet."

The Fort Worth City Council will spend the next two days immersed in budget talks looking for ways to close even more of the remaining $23 million shortfall.