The majority of Vicksburg’s city employees will see a boost beginning with their April 28 paychecks after the Board of Mayor and Aldermen took action Monday approving a 2-percent per hour pay increase.

“This is not a pay raise; it is a pay adjustment,” Mayor George Flaggs Jr. said. “We’ve come to the conclusion that rather than do across-the-board raises it may be better, because of the longevity (pay policy) that we implemented, that we don’t look at pay raises across the board; we start looking at pay adjustments in the future.”

He said the Board of Mayor and Aldermen is not included in the pay increase.

According to the ordinance setting the increase, the following employees also will not qualify for the increase: employees who have been with the city for six months or less; any employee who received a pay adjustment on Oct. 5, 2022; and any employee who received a longevity pay increase that increased their pay more than 2 percent of their hourly rate as of Sept. 8, 2022.

Flaggs initially mentioned employee pay increases during discussions on the city’s fiscal 2023 budget. At an Aug. 25 board meeting, he told employees the board had “every intention of giving pay raises April 1 around that pay period,” adding the raises would run from 2 to 5 percent on the condition that the city’s revenue could absorb the increases.

Flaggs said after Monday’s meeting that the board included the 2 percent increase in the 2023 budget and waited to ensure revenues would meet projections and be sufficient to cover the pay increase.