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Worcester County budget session turns into heated debate over sheriff pay, COLA and school funding
Summary
A lengthy budget work session on May 20 focused on a contested sheriff’s salary and overtime package, county-wide cost-of-living adjustments and school funding; commissioners ultimately approved a revised sheriff budget (yellow-sheet) after extended discussion and scheduled follow-up sessions with the school system
A protracted budget work session on May 20 at the Worcester County Commissioners meeting centered on the sheriff’s office request for pay increases and overtime, and broader county decisions over cost-of-living adjustments (COLA) for county employees and the school system’s budget request.
Sheriff Chris Foley presented a revised personnel proposal that scaled back several requests and delayed some reclassifications to save money, but he said pay increases were needed to retain deputies and stay competitive with nearby agencies. Foley described staffing pressures, a handful of shooting incidents in the southern part of the county that demand detective and supervisor time, and ongoing overtime driven by vacancies and major incidents.
Commissioners questioned whether cutting overtime requests and delaying certain hires would harm response capability.…
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