Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Public Safety Pay topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Sheriff urges pay changes to retain deputies as council weighs costs
Summary
Saluda County's sheriff told the council May 26 that rising regional pay and high workloads make recruiting and retaining deputies difficult; he requested pay adjustments and changes to rank/step structure, while council members pressed for targeted, costed options rather than an across‑the‑board raise.
Saluda County's sheriff pressed the county council during a May 26 budget workshop for pay adjustments and rank-structure changes aimed at retaining deputies and making local pay competitive with neighboring jurisdictions.
The sheriff (speaker 3) described heavy call volumes across the county, multiple roles performed by deputies and the difficulty of recruiting experienced officers when neighboring counties offer higher pay. He asked the council to consider an 8% across‑the‑board increase for law enforcement staff to close the competitive gap. “We can't let that gap get too far behind, or it's gonna be really tough to hire deputies,” the sheriff said.
Council members and the chair questioned the cost and suggested alternatives: targeting increases to detention, dispatch and road deputies or adjusting the pay band for law enforcement positions to allow more flexible hiring and retention. The chair noted that an 8% increase for public safety would add an estimated $333,000 to the budget and urged the sheriff and county administration to develop a more targeted proposal the council could evaluate before final budget votes.
The council did not adopt any pay plan at the workshop and asked staff to estimate the cost of targeted options for consideration at the June 8 public hearing.
