Halifax County commissioners Monday unanimously approved grade increases for deputies in the sheriff’s office up through the rank of lieutenant II.
The plan was presented by Commissioner Rives Manning as a substitute for one proposed by the county’s human resources department. The plan goes into effect March 27.
Under the plan approved the starting salary for a deputy sheriff I would be $40,091 compared to $32,057.
“Where we are now is our starting pay is $32,000,” Manning said this morning. “The counties around us are $38,000 and above. This puts us in the ballpark. We’ll be very competitive.”
The restructuring puts the deputy I position at a five grade increase; a four grade increase for a corporal or deputy II; a three grade increase for a sergeant; and four grade increases for lieutenant 1 and 2.
The restructuring also affects the detention center staff with three grade increases for a jail captain, detention officer I, detention officer II, and detention lieutenant. There is a 2 grade increase for the detention chief.
The total cost of the plan for the sheriff’s office with fringe benefits and 401(k) is $275,670.55 while the cost of the jail plan is $84,357.58 for a total of $360,028.13.
Human resources had proposed a two grade increase for the sheriff’s office as well as two grade increase for the jail.
For those employees in both categories who were already over the new proposed minimum Human Resources Director Renee Perry noted that she used the new personnel policy and added an extra step for those staff members.
The total cost for the sheriff’s office under the HR proposal was $117,827.78 and $43,956.95 for the jail. The total was $161,784.70.
But the recommendation referred to as the “Manning plan” won out and was unanimously approved.
“Right now when you compare all the counties around us with their sheriff’s department budget and pay raises, Halifax County is the lowest of any adjoining sheriff’s departments,” Manning said as he presented the plan. “We are losing beaucoup personnel to other counties and to municipalities. We’ve lost somewhere near 20 sworn deputy employees from the sheriff’s department and also from the detention staff.”
Manning said percentage increases in the past have been tried. “They don’t work. They really benefit the upper salaries but when you start with $32,000 and increase it 10 percent that’s a $3,200 increase. When you go to a $90,000 salary and increase it 10 percent that’s a $9,000 increase. That’s a big difference between the top dog and the low man.”
Manning said if the staff recommendation was adopted the county would still be lower than surrounding counties. “We would be low and it really would not help us a durn bit. If we adopt the Manning plan our sheriff’s department salaries will be in the range of adjoining counties and we’ll be competitive. I think we have and will have the best sheriff’s department capabilities there and we should be able to hire deputies.”
He said deputies are faced with all kinds of dangers the general public doesn’t face. “We need to have good qualified sworn deputies and detention staff.”
Commissioner Patrick Qualls, who cast the second to Manning’s motion to go with the plan he presented, said, “This has been a long time coming. It’s time that we recognize when somebody puts a bulletproof vest on to go to work they deserve a little more pay. Our citizens deserve to be protected.”
Board Chair Vernon Bryant said Manning and Qualls worked to bring the plan to fruition.
“This has been an issue since my entire term,” Commissioner Linda Brewer said. “I firmly realize that all county employees that serve us are not paid at the level of surrounding areas and my prayer going forward is we can address that.”
But, Brewer said, “We cannot have three deputies covering the fourth largest county in the state of North Carolina. We must take action to remedy this situation.”
Commissioner Carolyn Johnson said, “I’m in total agreement that the deputies need to be paid more money and as I look at this scale $40,000 is really not a cost of living. It’s not a lot of money for someone to put their life on the line but what I want to say is we have additional departments in this county that are losing employees because employees are not being paid what other counties are. My hope is that once this passes that we will look at a salary study for all of our departments so we can do for them what we plan to do for the sheriff’s department.”
Commissioner John Smith said, “I think this is a good thing that we’re doing. I think Commissioner Manning and Commissioner Qualls should be commended for the work they put forth to bring this about.”
Smith while Scotland Neck is protected by a police department there are a limited number of officers on duty. “We could have the sheriff’s department help out because we have some situations that have been going on here in Scotland Neck that need some attention. We do realize there are other departments in the county that need a pay increase but I think this is a good place to start because I think we all know we need law enforcement protection and our sheriff’s department is the one we look to mostly for that.”
Said Bryant: “This is a great step in the right direction. I certainly hope that boards after us and boards coming (in the future) will continue to do the same thing, not just for the sheriff’s department, but we have to do it for all of our employees. We’ve got to make things much better and this is the way to do it.”
