Wayne County sheriff warns of mass retirements, asks commission for pension actuarial study

Sheriff Raphael Washington told the Wayne County Ways and Means committee that the sheriff's office could lose scores of experienced officers to retirement in the next two years and asked the commission to fund actuarial work to assess changes to the county pension multiplier.

"We're in a position now where in a couple of years we'll be over 100 people who are eligible to leave," Washington said, asking the committee to act before contract negotiations and to consider whether the county pension can be adjusted to be more competitive.

Kevin Tolbert, chief of staff to the sheriff, told the committee the office currently has about 260 certified police officers; 57 will be eligible to retire in 2026 and another 92 in 2027. "This is a huge potential loss of experienced personnel," Tolbert said, noting certified officers take significant time and expense to train.

Union leaders backed the request. Allen Cox, president of the Wayne County Deputy Sheriff's Association, said the 1.25% pension multiplier used by Wayne County is far below neighboring agencies' multipliers — cited during the meeting as about 2.5%–2.64% — and that the gap is driving retention problems.

"Why should I stay here ... when I can go and be of value somewhere else?" Cox said, describing the financial incentive for certified deputies to transfer to agencies with higher retirement calculations.

Corporal Robin Scott, the union's first vice president, and other union representatives described heavy overtime and workplace strain tied to staffing shortfalls. Scott said deputies are exhausted after repeated mandatory overtime and warned of risks to staff and inmates if staffing declines continue.

Sheriff Washington and his staff asked the committee to request an actuarial study to estimate the cost of increasing the pension multiplier to competitive levels and to explore other retention incentives, including certification pay and potential recruitment or training changes.

Darcel Brown, chief assistant to the Wayne County executive, told the committee the pension study is being processed by the CEO's office and that the commission will be kept informed. John Wallace, the county CFO, said the county hired a firm and expected the completed study within about a month.

The chair said the committee would follow up after the administration provides the actuarial report and comparable pay studies for surrounding counties. No formal pension change was approved at the meeting; staff and union leaders asked that the actuarial analysis and related reports be completed and returned to the committee for consideration.

Next steps: the administration will circulate the actuarial study and comparative salary data to the committee when available; the sheriff's office, county staff and union representatives said they would continue working together on options to stabilize staffing.