By admin 
RALEIGH, N.C. (WNCN) — With just days until the start of North Carolina’s new fiscal year, thousands of state employees and retirees are still waiting to learn when expected raises and bonuses will arrive as lawmakers continue negotiating a state budget.
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Republican leaders announced a budget framework in mid-May that called for 8% raises for teachers, 3% raises for most state employees and a one-time 2.5% bonus for state retirees beginning July 1.
But if a final budget agreement isn’t in place by June 30, those pay bumps and bonuses cannot take effect.
“It puts a financial hardship on us, a strain. It’s like they don’t care. They’re not the ones affected by it. So, it’s not a priority to them,” said Afreda Evans, program coordinator at the North Carolina Department of Revenue.
In her 14 years working for the state, Evans said this is the longest she’s had to wait for a state budget.
“It affects the retirees. It affects everybody. But it is a major slap in the face to the current employees. We’re the ones still putting in the work,” she said. “You’re scared to take vacations. You’re scared to really spend any extra because we might not get a budget. We were here last year. Same thing. Waiting on a budget that was never approved. And so, who’s to say this is going to be approved at all?”
She added that the proposed 3% raise also falls short of keeping up with rising costs.
“I just feel so underappreciated. It was a slap in the face, especially when the inflation rate is close to 4%. It used to be an incentive to work for the state of North Carolina. But now it’s a big joke,” she said.
State retirees like Bryan Martin are also waiting for a promised 2.5% one-time bonus as outlined in the budget framework.
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“It puts people in a bind because they don’t have a part of their salary they were anticipating,” he said. “Many people are going to have trouble paying their bills, because they don’t have the funds that should have been coming their way.”
Martin, who retired in 2018 after a 37-year career with Wake County Public Schools, said while state retirees have received one-time bonuses in the past, they would rather get cost-of-living adjustment (COLA) raises, which compound over time.
For example, Martin said a retiree receiving a $20,000 annual pension in 2017 would be making nearly $27,000 today if that pension had received annual COLAs comparable to those of Social Security recipients. Instead, he said, that retiree is still receiving the same pension, with only occasional one-time bonuses.
“As a retiree, I’ve lost over a fourth of my spending power because the state has overlooked retirees year after year after year,” Martin said. “And it’s time to reverse that.”
Martin said he hopes lawmakers will consider COLAs instead of one-time bonuses as they hammer out final budget details.
“One-time bonuses help, but they don’t address years of inflation,” he said. “I will never understand how legislators can overlook the people who have given the most years of service to the state.”
Evans said state lawmakers should remain in Raleigh until they finish the budget, regardless of the upcoming July Fourth holiday.
“They should have to stay in session until a budget is in place. It should not be an option. This should be a priority,” she said.
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