LINDEN &8212; Pay raises haven&8217;t been granted for E-911 employees since 2004, but employees at the communications center have been granted a one-time pay raise by the E-911 board effective today.

Pay raises has been just one concern on a long list of issues the board has sorted through after several months of recovery from lack of meeting and also reorganization of members.

As the pay rates stand now, employees who have worked at Marengo County E-911 for more than 6 months make $8.15 an hour; the new rate will pay $9.70 an hour. Employees who hit the 18-month mark previously made $9.14 an hour; the new rate will pump their hourly rate to $10.40.

Other board members agreed.

In previous meetings, the board hesitated to make any decisions on raises because they claimed they did not have sufficient information regarding the entity&8217;s financial state. Tuesday the board got a closer look at their financial holdings with a thorough review of financial statements, a discussion which was facilitated by Rob Pearson representing the board&8217;s accounting firm, Mason and Gardner CPAs.

The review showed the projected revenues were in line with the amount of money actually coming in, which means E-911 is in sound fiscal shape.

It was determined that the proposed raises would increase the annual costs for payroll by approximately $18,000. The raises will not include any other benefits such as insurance premiums. Board member Ron Few first suggested the board approve the raises, saying the additional amount was nominal compared to the rest of the board&8217;s budget.

The raises will affect all of the dispatchers at the communications center. The people who it will not affect, however, will be director Lisa Mangum and her second in command, Jennifer Robertson, who has been a dispatcher there for 11 years.

Board members urged Mangum to bring a proposal of raises for herself and Robertson to the next meeting for consideration.