At its regular meeting on March 12, 2024, the Eutaw City Council agreed to a budget adjustment to increase the pay of police officers based on their years of experience working with the city.

This action was in response to a concern raised by Police Chief Tommy Johnson that four officers had left the staff since the beginning of the calendar year because they received offers of higher pay from neighboring police departments.

“Our starting salary of $15.00 an hour was too low to attract or keep trained officers,” said Chief Johnson. The mayor also indicated that the police department was currently paying overtime pay rates to officers to cover all required shifts.

Council members, Jonathan Woodruff and Tracey Hunter, who are members of the Council Finance Committee, proposed an adjustment to the budget, which would raise the base pay, for police officers who completed training to $17.00 an hour ($35,360 annually), with one to five years’ experience. The salary for officers with 6 to 10 years’ experience would be increased to $18.00 an hour ($37,440 annually). For officers with more than 10 years, the pay rate was increased to $19.00 an hour ($39,520 annually)

The Chief of Police will continue to receive $65,000 annually The Assistant Chief was raised to $22.00 an hour or $45,760 annually. There may be some other adjustments based on years of service. There were no cadets budgeted for this fiscal year, which created the budgetary savings to allow the increased salaries, within the current budget for this fiscal year.

Chief Johnson said he would be able to recruit new replacement officers at the new pay rate but still urged further increases to allow for retention of capable and experienced personnel.

The Council tabled action on setting rates for rental of the R. H. Young Community Center (formerly Carver School) since City Attorney, Zane Willingham, who helped draft the rates, was away attending a conference for municipal attorneys.

At its prior meeting on February 27, 2024, the Council voted to change the check signers on all city accounts in Merchants and Farmers Bank. There will be two signatories, on each check, of three signers: Council members: Tracey Hunter and Jonathan Woodruff and Chief Clerk, SheKelvia Spencer. This action removed Mayor Latasha Johnson, as a check signer.

The Mayor indicated some displeasure and disagreement with being removed from check signing but said she would abide by the Council’s decision, if they made sure to sign checks on a timely basis as needed.
The Mayor said, “No money is missing, nothing is hidden, no money has been mis-spent. We have an audit that shows that we are financially stable and following our budget. In the past, we did not have our finances in good condition, but now under my leadership we do. There is no reason to remove me as a check signer.”

In other actions, the Eutaw City Council:

• Approved a resolution to allow the mayor to seek bids to renovate the restrooms at City Hall.

• Approved a retail liquor license for Madi Food Mart, which plans to re-open a closed convenience store on Greensboro Avenue in Eutaw.

• Approved travel for several city officials to attend upcoming conferences and training.

• Received financial reports from Ralph Liverman, Fiscal Adviser, on bank accounts and loan balances. This included a report that 29 monthly payments had been made on the City’s four-year, equipment loan of $500,370, with 19 payments totaling $206,198 remaining to be paid. This monthly expenditure is included in the budget.

• Received a report from the Chamber of Commerce that they received a $5,000 grant for a mural to be painted on the wall of a building in downtown Eutaw.

• Approved payment of bills.

The meeting ended with a discussion of the need to keep the streets of Eutaw clean and that some people were dumping trash and other waste materials at the side of the road and in ditches in the city. The mayor stated that she would work with residents and businesses to keep the areas around their homes and workspaces clean. Lorenzo French suggested involving young people in the clean-up efforts, so they would help maintain the clean streets and areas of the city.