Board of Commissioners

Chief Executive Officer

W. Burrell Ellis, Jr.

District 1 Elaine Boyer District 2 Jeff Rader District 3 Larry Johnson District 4 Sharon Barnes Sutton District 5 Lee May

April 22, 2013 Dear Employee:

District 6 Kathie Gannon District 7 Stan Watson

I am writing to inform you of my intent to provide an increase in base salary up to 3% to those employees making less than a living wage ($37,731) as defined by national standards. Impacted sworn public safety personnel, who are currently eligible for a 5% salary increase after 12 months employment, will receive a one-time payment. The increase for all affected employees will be retroactive to January 1, 2013. It is my understanding that on Tuesday, April 23, 2013, the Board of Commissioners will consider a proposal to encourage a one-time bonus payment, in lieu of a salary increase. While I am appreciative of the Commissions input and consideration, as well as their adoption of funding for our proposal in the 2013 Budget, a survey of those employees not currently receiving a living wage revealed that more than 86% of these individuals prefer a salary increase over a bonus payment. In addition, a salary increase is the first step in a bigger plan to ensure that all of our employees receive fair wages and cost-of-living adjustments. Thank you for your continued contribution to DeKalb County. Sincerely,

Burrell Ellis

Clark Harrison Building | 330 W. Ponce de Leon Avenue | Decatur, GA 30030 | P: 404.371.2881 F: 404.371.6291 www.dekalbcountyga.gov