HINDS COUNTY, Miss. (WJTV) – Hinds County may soon boost pay for its Public Works employees.

Public Works Director Dexter Shelby told supervisors that staring salaries of just more than $21,000 a year makes it hard to attract and keep qualified workers. That breaks down to $10.09 an hour before taxes.

“Very important for us to be able to pay qualified candidates to come work. With that pay, we could possibly keep them longer. So, it’s really important for us to have what we need to hire the folks that we want to hire,” said Shelby.

Supervisors and the Public Works Department said the low pay is driving a labor shortage. Even with a raise last year, county leaders said it’s still not enough.

“These men are out here in the heat, in the cold, doing the work, and it’s time for them to get a decent raise. And that’s what we’re going to be working on, making sure that they get a decent raise this year,” said Supervisor Wanda Evers, District 4.

Supervisors have not said how much the pay increase could be. The budget is still under review.