Brookhaven city employees will see a 2 percent raise in the new fiscal year. The Board of Aldermen on Tuesday voted to raise wages for all city employees,  excluding elected officials.

Ward 1 Alderman Randy Belcher and Ward 2 Alderman Terry Bates opposed the raises.

Also included in the budget for the new fiscal year will be an increase in water and sewer rates. It was suggested that water and sewer rates be raised by $1.50 per connection per month. Aldermen at-large Karen Sullivan moved to reduce the increase to $1 per connection per month, and the motion passed.

“To give our citizens a little break,” Sullivan said. “[We have had] better than expected revenues, better efficiencies in the water department […] We will not be hurting to do that.”

City Clerk Mike Jinks said the city could easily allow that change for this year, but next year the city might have to add the $0.50 increase.

There had been discussion in earlier budget meetings about reducing King’s Daughters Medical Center’s ambulance funding from its current $30,000. Tom Hood, COO of KDMC, came to address the board Tuesday to request keeping the current funding level and to answer questions.

Belcher asked what the policy was concerning numbers of ambulances over night.

“We schedule at least two ambulances to cover this county at all times and then from the hours of 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. we have a third truck,” Hood said. “So we have three trucks during the peak times of the day. If at any time the county becomes sort of at risk of being ‘uncovered’ so to speak, […] we have an on-call crew.”

Belcher asked if someone was being sent to Jackson early in the morning was there a possibility that there would be only one truck available. Hood said yes, but that’s when the on-call crew and other trucks or mutual assistance would be called in.

“Sometimes bad events happen and you have situations where […] there’s only room for one stretcher and we have four trucks — if you have more than four victims you’re going to have to call somebody else and it’s called mutual assistance,” Hood said. “We have mutual assistance agreements with other ambulance services in this community when those situations happen that there’s mores than four people that we can take care of we call in that mutual aid. That’s common throughout ambulances services.”

“But we don’t have any situations where we’re cutting hours to save money or anything like that?” Belcher said. “No policy like that?”

Hood said there is no such policy. Other members of the board expressed approval and appreciation for the hospital’s ambulance service.

Mayor Joe Cox added a motion to maintain KDMC’s current funding level for ambulance service at $30,000 per year. The motion passed.

Bates asked the board to change the name of the line item for the feasibility study for a new recreation facility with an indoor pool to include “pool,” and the request was granted. Bates made a motion to increase the pool/recreation center allocation from $25,000 to $50,000. Bates, Ward 1 Alderman Randy Belcher and Ward 3 Alderman Mary Wilson voted in favor of the increase while Alderman at-large Karen Sullivan, Ward 4 Alderman Shirley Estes, Ward 5 Aldermen Fletcher Grice and Ward 6 Aldermen David Phillips were opposed.

“I feel that providing essential city services throughout the city, such as our $10 million water and sewer projects and the $3 million paving project, take priority over a pool at this time,” Phillips said.

The board voted to approve the millage rates/tax levy for the fiscal year ending Sept. 30, 2016. There are no increases in the city millage. The board also voted to approve the 2015/2016 debt service schedule. The board approved budgets for the general fund, water/sewer fund and solid waste fund with Belcher and Bates opposed.

In other business, the board moved to:

• Accept the resignation of Michael Loving from the Cemetery Department.

• Approve the agreement with Municode for recodification of the city’s code at an approximate cost of $18,000, and to authorize the city clerk to execute the agreement.

• Approve to remove from inventory the following: a non-working Swintec 2600 typewriter from mayor’s inventory and a Samsung Galaxy 2 from the city clerk’s inventory, upgraded to Samsung 5 smartphone.