State workers will get pay raises

State workers will get a pleasant surprise when they receive their next paycheck.

The 2 percent pay raises approved by the Legislature in 2003 took effect July 1 and will show up on paychecks July 15.

Deputy Budget Director Andrew Clinger said the raises will cost the state a total of $14 million a year.

In addition to the 16,684 classified and unclassified state workers, university system employees will also receive the increases.

Because of the tight budget situation, state employees received no increase last year. But they got 4 percent each of the two years prior to that, along with a nearly 5 percent bump when lawmakers created an additional grade step for all workers.

Clinger said $6.5 million of the total goes to state classified workers, including the 2,400 in the university system. A total of $874,112 pays for raises for unclassified managers, directors and professionals such as lawyers employed by the state.

It takes $6.1 million to give 2 percent raises to the 4,400 professional employees in the university system, such as professors.

Another $342,548 is needed to pay raises for employees in the Legislative Counsel Bureau and $206,564 for classified medical personnel employed by the state.

The total annual cost of the raises is $14.03 million.