St. Mary's County commissioners approve updated sworn law-enforcement pay schedule effective March 6

The St. Mary's County Commissioners voted to approve a revised sworn law-enforcement salary schedule that county staff described as an average 18% increase, effective March 6, 2020. Catherine Preston, the county human resources director, told commissioners the schedule was intended to reduce pay disparities noted by the sheriff's office.

The change follows an earlier, separate adjustment approved Nov. 5 that increased the correctional officer salary schedule by an overall average of about 11% effective Jan. 1. Preston said the sheriff had asked for parity with Charles County and the Maryland State Police and submitted updated requests in December.

The county human-resources presentation said the March 6 implementation would produce a roughly 7% increase to the sheriff's office FY2020 salary budget; a full-year implementation would add about 12.5% in recurring cost. The presentation described the combined effect as an average 18% increase to sworn salaries and estimated the recurring budgetary impact at roughly $3,400,000 for the county’s sworn law-enforcement payroll.

Preston also told the board that if commissioners chose a Jan. 1 effective date to align with the corrections adjustment, the sheriff’s office had reserves to cover the FY2020 difference and that the recurring annual cost would be the same whether the change was implemented Jan. 1 or March 6. "The sheriff's office has the reserves for both scenarios, and the annual expense is the same for either scenario," Preston said.

A motion to adopt the March 6, 2020, schedule passed on a roll-call vote. Commissioners recorded unanimous approval in the meeting minutes.

The approved schedule also, per the HR presentation, eliminates certain prior line items: the top-of-grade stipends would no longer be requested for sworn officers and the existing 10% promotional increase and the previously planned phased market adjustment would be removed as implemented under the new schedule.

Commissioners and staff placed the new sworn schedule within the larger ongoing budget conversation, noting the multiyear projections and recurring cost pressures. Catherine Preston said the county will continue to update long-range fiscal models as decisions and state actions (including possible changes to Board of Education funding) become final.

The commissioners did not detail in the public record any single county-wide funding source to offset the recurring cost beyond the sheriff's office absorbing FY2020 effects; staff said the sheriff’s FY2020 budget could fund the FY2020 portion and that annual costs were reflected in multiyear projections.

The county will publish the adopted salary schedule and associated budget adjustments in subsequent budget materials and incorporate the change into the multi-year forecast.