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Sheriff's office outlines step-pay plan as court weighs targeted raises for—maxed out— employees
Summary
Sheriff's office and HR explained the step-pay plan structure and consultant guidance; HR reported 63 employees will reach the top step this fiscal year, and commissioners asked staff to model alternatives: add a step, pay a 3.71% COLA to capped employees, or apply a targeted 2% adjustment.
The sheriff's office presented the court with the design and maintenance guidance for the department's step-pay plan and the options available to address employees who have reached the top of their assigned step.
A sheriff's office representative said the plan, implemented in fiscal 2025 after consulting compensation experts, provides multiple steps for lower ranks and tapers for higher ones and was not intended to function as an automatic cost-of-living adjustment. The HR presenter said consultants recommended assessing the plan using a combination of comp-ratio (market), turnover, CPI, applications and budget constraints rather than applying an annual COLA to all step-plan positions.
HR told the court that "there are 63 employees who, by the end of this fiscal year, will be capped" at the top step, and that roughly half of those are base deputies or jailers. Commissioners and staff discussed three principal ways to address that group: (1) add an additional step at the top of the table so capped employees move up, (2) give capped employees a one-time or recurring COLA equal to what other employees receive (3.71%), or (3) apply a smaller targeted percentage (for example, 2%) to the affected positions. The court asked HR to produce the reconciled headcount (63 versus higher counts others quoted) and cost estimates for the primary alternatives.
Sheriff's office leadership also warned that recruiting and training timelines mean that adding vacant positions will not immediately remove overtime pressure: new hires require months of training before they reduce overtime burdens. Commissioners asked staff to include vacancy-filling scenarios and potential tradeoffs (reducing outside services, repurposing vacant positions) when returning with cost numbers.
No formal vote was taken; staff committed to return with a reconciled list of capped employees and budget estimates for the add-step and targeted-COLA options.
