City officials working on budget, Barker hoping to give employees raises

HATTIESBURG, MS. - The Hattiesburg City Council is working on a budget for the new fiscal year and their deadline is approaching quickly.

The city has to put a budget together for the 2018 fiscal year beginning October 1. This week Mayor Barker and City Council heard from multiple city departments and their budgets.

According to Mayor Toby Barker the council has to approve the budget by September 15.

He is hoping to give city employees raises, but it may be a challenge. "We have to see what our numbers are here. We have significant challenges right now" he says.

Mayor Barker continues, "We will do a budget for the current fiscal year on August 22nd. And a lot of the challenges that our interim CFO has discovered will come out then."

"We will probably tie our hands this first year. We are hoping that throughout this term we will be able to do at least one and maybe more raises for our employees" he says. "We hope we have a responsible, but sustainable budget that meets the many needs of Hattiesburg."

During Barker's mayoral campaign he was a supporter to giving city employees raises.