Trousdale County committee approves mixed FY26 pay increases, forwards revised tax rate to full commission

Trousdale County Budget and Finance Committee members voted June 16 to advance a proposed FY26 pay plan that gives most county employees a $1.50 hourly increase, provides $2 hourly for members of the sheriff’s department and leaves Emergency Medical Services (EMS) personnel without an increase.

The vote on the pay plan was 5-2 in favor. Committee members also voted 4-3 to forward a revised county general tax rate—discussed in the meeting as roughly 2.09 in the packet materials—to the full county commission for final action.

Why it matters: the committee debate centered on balancing recruitment and retention pressures against the county’s tax levy. A $3,000 across-the-board increase approved by the commission last week had prompted the initial discussion; committee members reopened that decision and weighed alternative distributions of additional pay that change how the cost is borne across departments.

Committee members cited comparisons with nearby counties and differences in how overtime and holiday pay apply to EMS. Commissioner Dennis said the county’s holiday-pay practice for EMS — which treats the typical work day as 24 hours — substantially increases total pay relative to other counties: "If you take and do the math backwards, subtract 8 hours from 24, that's 16 hours of overtime per day per holiday ... that's 224 hours ... that is a benefit for our county employees. That's $4,495.68 that we pay that employee that they would not get in Sumner County," Dennis said during discussion.

The meeting record shows several competing proposals. One commissioner proposed a 10% raise for the sheriff's department, $1.50 for other employees and no raise for EMS; that proposal did not carry. Another motion — which passed 5-2 — set the compromise adopted by the committee: $1.50 for most employees, $2 for sheriff’s staff, and no increase for EMS.

Sheriff Russell addressed the committee about positions and staffing tied to raises. On the record he said two of the positions referenced in the discussion are currently vacant and described the department’s offer tied to the raise discussions: "...I offered 2 more positions for the 10%. They're vacant right now. I've got 3 vacant slots right now," he said.

Committee members debated whether percent-based increases or flat-dollar increases better improve starting pay and recruitment. Some members argued that dollar increases better help lower-paid new hires; others favored percent increases to reward longer service. After the pay vote the committee also recalculated the tax levy needed to fund the change and voted 4-3 to send the revised tax-rate recommendation to the full commission.

Next steps: the committee’s package — including the pay recommendations and the revised tax-rate figure discussed in the packet — will go to the full Trousdale County Commission for final approval. The committee did not finalize implementation details such as caps or longevity adjustments; staff was asked to provide numbers and to revise ordinance language for the tax-rate change before final readings.

Ending: Committee members said they will continue to refine payroll calculations and ordinance language at future meetings and when the full commission takes up the FY26 budget and tax-rate ordinances.