Cobb Reporter

Cobb County employees are set to receive pay raises as early as September following the recent approval of a $1.4 billion budget, a FOX 5 Atlanta news report said.

The budget allocates millions of dollars to employee salaries.

The raises will bring employee salaries closer in line with those in similar counties, as county officials have stated their intention to use the new budget to help maintain current employees and hire new ones.

"We've had employees that are underpaid by about 8% market average at a time it's hard to get workers at all," Cobb County spokesman Ross Cavitt told FOX 5 Atlanta. "Workers are leaving for greener pastures and we're not able to replace those workers."

Cobb County has struggled recently to find employees, the report said. Out of approximately 5,000 full- and part-time positions, approximately 750 are open for new hires. While some workers have retired, others have found higher-paying employment elsewhere. The persistent employee shortage resulted in the county using its contingency fund to hire contract workers to fill open positions.

County officials are hopeful that the new minimum wage for county employees will be $17 per hour, and that the new salaries will be enough to attract potential new employees and satisfy current ones.

"We need to boost up not only pay but morale and this will go a long way to doing that," Cavitt said.