Fort Wayne Mayor Tom Henry's plan to give city workers a pay raise is running into some stiff opposition. The mayor's $180 million budget includes a one percent pay raise for city employees, but some council members don’t support that. The pay raise would cost about $890,000. City Controller Pat Roller says the city will pay for it through savings gained by not budgeting for 35 positions that are currently unfilled. That will save the city $2.5 million. But Councilwoman Liz Brown (R-at-Large) says she does not support the pay increase. She says the city should use that money to improve services like making the roads better. “It's pretty hard to tell people that things are great, that we're doing more with less, we can give people a salary increase, when they don't feel that they're getting the best of the services yet,” said Brown. “I think people would like to see more things done in terms of infrastructure.” Another Republican member of council told FOX Fort Wayne he has a hard time with the proposed pay raise because, he says, the money isn't there. Council will look at the entire budget over the next several weeks with a vote expected at the end of October.
