San Miguel County commissioners heard a detailed budget briefing from the sheriff’s office at a special meeting Oct. 29, focusing on changes to pay methodology, equipment replacement plans and vehicle leasing needs. The sheriff’s staff said they have transitioned away from ad-hoc housing retention stipends and short-term bonuses and are placing employees on a new “place-and-range” pay structure tied to years of experience and a standardized crediting method that leaders say aligns pay with neighboring agencies.

The sheriff’s office said the new approach is intended to make pay decisions more transparent and equitable and to avoid sudden cuts to employees’ earnings; officials said most current deputies would not see a reduction from the change. Commissioners were told the county will not continue retention bonuses in 2026 and instead implement the new pay ranges in January 2026.

On equipment, the sheriff’s office described several major items included in the operating and capital budgets. An Axon (Taser) lease was listed as an operating expense rather than a capital purchase because the five-year lease does not result in ownership; deputies were described as forced to upgrade because their current devices are no longer supported by the vendor. The Axon program was presented as a comprehensive lease that covers devices, cartridges for duty and training, two instructor slots and recurring annual costs. The sheriff said he asked vendors to strip optional virtual-reality training from the package but was told it is bundled with the lease.

Other items discussed included a replacement LiveScan fingerprinting unit mandated for jail booking and a radio-console upgrade for dispatch. The sheriff said a higher-cost radio console option originally budgeted at about $480,000 will be scaled back to an alternate option near $315,000, reducing the capital ask by roughly $165,000. The in-car video system request will be phased into vehicle leases rather than retrofitting existing leased vehicles all at once; staff described a staggered program to add cameras as fleet leases are replaced over several years.

Commissioners also discussed vehicle lease counts: the sheriff’s office has 12 existing leases and proposed three additional lease replacements for the coming year; staff said leases will be timed to replace high-mileage units as new vehicles arrive. A firearms-range improvement and membership conversion plan was described; however, a plan to fund some range improvements was delayed after County staff learned the range property belongs to Montrose County, not the local club.

Next steps: Commissioners asked staff to incorporate the sheriff’s revised equipment requests and the new pay methodology into the draft 2026 budget and to provide any additional cost estimates requested by the board.

Ending: Staff said more analysis will be provided as budget materials are finalized and commissioners signaled support for the move from retention stipends to the range-based pay system but reserved further questions about specific capital items until final budget revisions.