ATLANTA (AP) -- Atlanta Mayor Kasim Reed is hoping to find a way to give the city's 7,500 employees a raise.

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports that (http://bit.ly/O84wbs) Reed told workers during an event Friday at City Hall that he's "pretty good at finding money." The city's $542 million budget for next year -- approved last week by the city council -- includes no layoffs or furlough days.

The budget includes increases for about one-fifth of the city's workforce in an effort to increase their pay to at least 80 percent of what municipal employees make in other cities.

The first-term mayor told hundreds of employees that they "carry the city."

Reed's spokeswoman, Sonji Jacobs, told the newspaper that the raise is a "goal for the future when the city can afford it."

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Information from: The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, http://www.ajc.com