NATCHEZ — Several county supervisors hope to give county employees their first raise in five years this year, but doing so would cost between $100,000 to $225,000.

During budget discussions for the upcoming new fiscal year, the supervisors have mentioned the possibility of giving county employees a raise.

Adams County’s total payroll is approximately $6.5 million, though County Administrator Joe Murray said only approximately $4.5 million of that would be affected by a pay raise. The salaries of elected officials are set by state statute or tied to the fees they collect, and the pay given to positions funded by grant dollars cannot be adjusted, he said.

A 5-percent pay raise would increase the county payroll by approximately $225,000. A 3-percent raise would come to an additional $135,000 in pay.

Murray said that while the raises are being considered, how much that raise will ultimately be — if it happens — is yet to be decided.

The county’s public utilities assessments have dropped this year, but the county will also be retiring debt, Murray said.

“It will ultimately have a lot to do with our capabilities after we get through putting everything together,” he said. “We have to look at our year-end cash balances as well as our assessments from the state that are still coming in.”

The county government has made several cost-cutting efforts this year, and Supervisor Mike Lazarus said he believes employees can help pay for themselves. As an example, Lazarus cited how Road Manager Robbie Dollar, who was hired earlier this year, has eliminated $15,000 worth of overtime pay in his department.

“We told (our employees) to make a commitment to help us save money, and we would give them raises,” he said. “They made this happen.”

Supervisor Angela Hutchins, who was a county employee for 23 years before being elected last fall, said she believes at minimum employees should get a cost-of-living raise.

“I still look at it (from the perspective of) the employees, because when I was on the other side, I felt employees should have a raise,” Hutchins said.

Supervisors President Darryl Grennell said the possibility of a raise has been in the mind of the supervisors since even before beginning the budget process.

“A lot of these people work extremely hard, and they deserve a raise,” he said. “We are expecting the possibility of food prices and fuel prices rising, and they need some compensation to help deal with those issues coming up.”

Lazarus said there are county employees who are living below the poverty level and trying to support their families, and many have second jobs.

“We gave a 3-percent raise five years ago, and they haven’t had a raise since,” he said. “We have employees who have been there 25 to 30 years, and are still making $10 an hour.”

Supervisor Calvin Butler said giving raises to experienced workers is also the right thing to do. Workers who have been on the job for several years who are making the same pay as someone who started this year might feel slighted, he said.

“We wanted to try to get that in line to where, if you have been on a job for five or six years and you are making $10, we have got to get (the pay of) that person who has been there for several years up to be fair because they have that experience,” Butler said. “We wanted to give them a little incentive.”

Lazarus said the goal was to offer the raises to county employees without having to raise taxes, and he said at this point in the budgeting process he does not think the county will have to raise the millage to do so.

Supervisor David Carter could not be reached for comment. Carter, who works for the Adams County Extension Service, is participating in an extension service conference in town this week.