By Associated Press
Birmingham, AL – By a seven-to-one vote, the Birmingham City Council decided to override Mayor Bernard Kincaid's veto of a 15 percent pay hike for police and firefighters. At Tuesday's meeting, council members said they intend to fight for the five percent increase a year that would gradually go into effect in fiscal 2008. Kincaid argued the raises are unfair to other city employees and is fiscally unsound. He also challenged the City Council's authority to ask the County Personnel Board to change the salaries of public safety workers. Lawyers representing the city council and the mayor said the matter could end in court.