All employees of the North Oakland Transportation Authority (NOTA) are getting pay raises next year, but not everyone’s happy about it.

Last week, the NOTA board voted 6-1 to approve $1-per-hour raises for its 25 part-time drivers, two part-time dispatchers and one full-time dispatcher.

Their hourly wage will go from $12 to $13, which equals a 7.6 percent increase. Drivers and dispatchers receive no benefits.

“I really think that they are due to have a raise,” said NOTA Director Lynn Gustafson. “They really do a professional job.”

The driver raises are projected to cost NOTA an additional $33,837 next year, while the dispatcher raises will cost another $3,855. The total NOTA budget approved last week for 2017 is $1.3 million.

Addison Supervisor Bruce Pearson, who’s one of two representatives for his township on the NOTA board, cast the lone dissenting vote.

“I give my employees 2 percent raises and here, we’re giving 8 percent raises,” he said.

Gustafson explained she examined what NOTA’s drivers were making compared to those in other communities and NOTA was on the low end. She said the $1-per-hour raise will put them in the “median.”

“I really think that they were being underpaid,” Gustafson said. “So, it’s more of an adjustment of where I think that they should be.”

She noted this year, the drivers and dispatchers received a 23-cent-per-hour (or 2 percent) raise.

“Prior to that, they really hadn’t had a raise before the millage,” said Gustafson, referring to the 0.25-mill NOTA operating tax approved by Oxford and Orion voters in 2014 and Addison voters in 2015.

“So, this is, I think, just getting them caught up to where they should be.”

Gustafson told the board the drivers are hard-working, very professional and go above-and-beyond when it comes to serving NOTA riders. She explained how they personally escort people to and from their doors and help them handle everything from wheelchairs to grocery bags.

NOTA provides low-cost, publicly-subsidized transportation to senior citizens, disabled individuals and low-income folks living in Oxford, Addison and Orion townships along with the villages of Oxford, Leonard and Lake Orion.

Gustafson envisions any future pay raises will be “small, cost-of-living adjustments.”

“I don’t see, going forward, that there’s going to be large adjustments,” she said.

Pearson noted Addison employees went for “several years” without any raises and only recently started receiving 2 percent pay bumps.

Addison Treasurer Lori Fisher, the township’s other NOTA board representative, disagreed with Pearson and argued in favor of the raises.

She said the $1-per-hour increase “does not seem to be an excessive amount” and the drivers are given “a large responsibility,” transporting senior citizens, disabled people and low-income individuals from their homes to a variety of destinations.

“I think it will help (boost) morale around here,” Gustafson added.

Pearson argued for smaller raises.

“I would just feel more comfortable with a 4 percent raise than an 8 percent (one),” he said.

But his position found no support amongst his fellow board members and he was ultimately, outvoted.

Included with the driver and dispatch raises were a 12 percent pay increase for NOTA Operations Manager Doug Noaker and a 2 percent increase for Gustafson.

Noaker’s annual salary will go from $35,600 to $40,000, an increase of $4,400. He works full-time, receives no benefits and has been with NOTA for three years.

“I still think he’s underpaid at $40,000,” Gustafson said. “He’s my right-hand person.”

Calling him a “jack of all trades,” she explained how Noaker saves NOTA a lot of money by doing everything from handling computer-related issues to using his expertise as a mechanic when it comes to dealing with vehicle maintenance and repairs.

“He really does a lot around here,” Gustafson said.

As for Gustafson, her raise will take her annual salary from $52,020 to $53,060, an increase of $1,040.