Employees of the town of Hope will receive a 2 percent pay raise and more holidays under plans adopted last night by the Town Council. But the town will also be looking to modernize its personnel policies, which have been unchanged since 2006.

Council member Clyde Compton pointed out that the town’s salary ordinance is inconsistent in several areas and needs updating. The town agreed to hire an outside human resources firm at a cost of $2800 to help update the policies and ordinance, before next year’s budget hearings.

Melina Fox, the town manager, said that she researched the number of holidays for state employees and those of both Bartholomew County and Columbus. Those government employees received between 14 and 15 paid holidays a year, while Hope employees only receive nine. The council voted 3-1 to approve more holidays for employees including Martin Luther King Jr. Day and Veterans Day.