Montgomery County employees will soon be getting a raise.
The Montgomery County Council approved raises of 7 to 10 percent yesterday for most fire, police and non-uniformed employees. Those workers are represented by unions that have negotiated with the county.
Managers will also get a pay increase.
The pay hikes will cost the county about $32 million.
Councilman Phil Andrews was the only councilman to vote against the raises, saying the move didn't take the interests of taxpayers into account.
Meanwhile, there is a tiny bit of good news for other government workers who took pay cuts this year: Federal workers who are facing furloughs because of automatic budget cuts can now get a discount on golf.
Starting Wednesday, the Northern Virginia Regional Park Authority will allow federal workers to play its courses for $25. That's a discount of about 30 percent off the regular greens fees.
The rate is available from Monday-Thursday after 10 a.m. Workers must show a civilian federal employee ID to be eligible. But they won't have to prove that they've been furloughed or are playing on their furlough day.
Park authority chairman Brian Knapp says the program is meant as a gesture of solidarity with the thousands of federal workers who will have unpaid days off.