Commissioners weigh a 5% COLA for county staff and a separate sheriff pay-scale proposal

Commissioners debated broader employee compensation options as they continued budget deliberations. One proposal on the table was a 5% cost-of-living adjustment for non-elected county staff and precinct employees; commissioners asked the treasurer's office to model the fiscal impact. The sheriff's office urged an alternative: overhaul the step-and-grade pay scale to improve retention, pointing to a widening gap in later career steps compared with neighboring agencies. The sheriff noted, "Our starting pay for a deputy walking in the door new 1 and a new officer walking across street Weatherford we pay $743 more than Weatherford... But, you know, year 2, we start to get lehi off. Year 3, they they take off." (verbatim from meeting)

Because the sheriff's office uses a separate stepping schedule, commissioners asked staff to produce a comparison: (a) a 5% across-the-board COLA for non-elected positions and (b) the cost to adopt the sheriff's proposed step-and-grade scale. The court paused adoption of any across-the-board COLA pending that fiscal analysis and scheduled follow-up discussions on the next meeting agenda.