ZACHARY - In June the Zachary Community School District announced a new pay raise for its employees as part of its retention and recruitment effort, but another raise is on the ballot in a coming election. 

"We did a $2,000 raise for all certified teachers and then we had a $1,000 raise for all of our support employees," District Superintendent Ben Necaise said. 

Necaise said the district has competition when it comes to teacher pay. After taking a hard look at the finances they figured out a way to give the Zachary teaches a raise.

"So we were able to really streamline our budget over the last couple of years, and with some additional funding we were able to push this compensation forward."

But the district isn't done; it has a plan to get teachers more money with an item on the ballot for Nov. 15.

"We're going to ask taxpayers without having to raise their millages. As we roll off facility bonds over the next few years, can we transition some of those millages to employee compensation and other areas that support our district?" Necaise asked, speaking of the ballot item.

He says this is the best way to get it done, but he's adamant about not immediately raising the current millage rate. 

"We'll do it over time, gradually, so that there is no feel or increase immediately of any taxes," says Necaise.