By Mark Wineka
mwineka@salisburypost.com
Because of current economic conditions, Salisbury City Manager David Treme will not get a raise this year.
It’s a decision that both Treme and Salisbury City Council reached together Tuesday.
“The council and the manager feel strongly that it is the right thing to do,” Mayor Susan Kluttz said.
Treme will continue at his current annual salary of $139,726.
Salisbury City Council met in closed session Tuesday to evaluate Treme’s job performance. The evaluation is done every year, and council usually awards Treme a merit increase of up to 4 percent.
Kluttz said the council “rated him once again as excellent” in its discussions. Treme does an outstanding job and truly lives and breathes city government, she said.
“We’re fortunate to have him as city manager,” Kluttz added.
But after discussing it with him, council decided the times called for no pay increase.
Salisbury and Rowan County have faced increasing job losses. The county’s unemployment rate reached 9.3 percent in December and is expected to rise with the layoffs and plant closings announced in January.
Treme has been manager since 1986.