Funding, turnover rates factor into budget committee’s decision on pay raises

Published 7:20 pm Friday, October 28, 2022

By Danielle Morin

Elizabethton Star

Carter County Commissioners, Carter County Sheriff Mike Fraley, and Carter County Mayor Patty Woodby joined the county budget committee on Tuesday to discuss the proposed $5 an hour pay increase for Carter County Sheriff Office employees as well as brainstorm sustainable ways to fund the $1.7 million proposal for the coming fiscal year.

While pay increases sound like a positive change, the room was divided on whether the motion was reasonably possible, with both sides raising valid points and arguments. The issue at hand has been a concern and center of conflict for some time. Woodby said former Carter County sheriff was unwilling to work with board members by refusing to provide statistics or any other information related to officer salaries so that the board could come to a verdict on the matter. Fraley took over office in September, and has made substantial changes to the department’s transparency while actively pursuing better wages for his employees, she said.

 Woodby said the new sheriff’s dedication to the men and women who serve below him sets him apart from previous administrations and could be the change the county needed to move forward with creating an acceptable living wage for Carter County officers. “I’m trying to get officers a livable wage without needing overtime to make ends meet Fraley said during deliberations, adding, “My ultimate goal is to have six officers per shift. To get those officers they have to be able to survive with their salary.”

But salary increases would not only serve to improve working conditions for the officers themselves. Fraley was quick to explain that the Carter County jail had recently lost its Federal Inmate Contract and was on the verge of decertification. This move could be detrimental to the future of the jailhouse as well as the county’s financial budget. The federal contract provides the county with $2 million a year to cover the “rent” of the jail building itself. Without that contract, Carter County is expected to pay the nearly $167,000 per month from its own budget.

“We’re going to lose our jail,” if something could not be determined, Commission Julie Guinn warned.

Fraley explained that before approaching the Federal Marshalls on retaining the Federal Inmate Contract, the sheriff’s office has to meet specific state-set criteria on staffing numbers. More specifically, the jailhouse is required to staff 48 corrections officers per shift. Currently, they are short by 22. The solution? Fraley said the only way to get the staffing numbers up and turnover rates down is to change salary wages to compete with surrounding counties.

Carter County Finance Director Carolyn Watson argued the danger in comparing and competing with surrounding counties, explaining that these other counties have much higher revenues, with Commissioner Angie Odom adding that while inflation and cost of living continue to rise, revenue has not, posing a major upset in Carter County’s economy.

And the turnover rates are not only important to the staffing requirements for the jail’s federal contract. Guinn stressed the economic impact that such a high turnover rate has on the county, explaining that county costs fall between $12,000 and $15,000 per officer when getting new hires on the payroll. These costs include things like training, psychiatric evaluations, physical examinations, and uniforms. Guinn pointed out that if the county could not decrease the turnover rate, which currently sits at 35 percent, commissioners would continue facing substantial financial losses over the “wasted” onboarding costs. Sheriff Fraley’s Assistant Abby Frye presented the turnover rate to the committee, explaining that a significant number of corrections and patrol officers leave Carter County after six months to a year, with some leaving even sooner, to seek employment in surrounding counties where wages are higher.

In addition to offering much lower wages than surrounding counties, Carter County officers with families pay out of pocket insurance premiums in excess of $1,300 per month, the highest in the area, with some surrounding offices averaging just over $100 monthly, Odom said. Other concerns facing the decision include determining who should be eligible if wages were increased.

Commissioner Brad Johnson, a retired patrol officer himself, said the proposal should focus solely on corrections officers since it is their staffing numbers alone that determine eligibility for the Federal Inmate Contract, while other members, including Woodby, objected. Woodby said she sees patrol officers struggling to provide for their families as well and, while the motion is important for the survival of the jail, it is equally important for supporting the safety of Carter County residents. Odom agreed with Woodby’s argument, saying that as a mother of a young child she values the importance of both patrol and school resource officers and wants the changes to support their wages as well to ensure continued public safety in the county.

Also on the agenda was tackling the biggest question on the table – how to fund the proposed wage increases. Woodby researched tactics of surrounding counties to help brainstorm revenue avenues that could be potentially profitable. One of these tactics included adding a wheel tax within Carter County. Woodby showed statistics to committee board members representing Greene County’s success with its wheel tax, noting the county was able to bring in $4 million in revenue last year with a population of approximately 71,000. Woodby noted the similarities to Carter County’s population of roughly 57,000, iterating wheel tax’s potential for substantial revenue gains. Woodby says the tax could be a better alternative to raising property taxes because it diversifies the burden to all Carter County residents, not just those who own homes. Woodby said she was not necessarily saying she was for or against the idea, but that it could be something worth thinking about.

The board agreed that in order to move the proposal further, they needed to decide on a conclusive number by which to raise wages so that the finance director’s office could come up with and present more exact figures. Board members agreed that without these conclusive numbers, they would not stand a chance in getting the motion passed. Upon making this decision, there was a unanimous vote to rescind the proposed $5 increase, and a directive was provided for an increase between $3 and $3.50 in its place. The new proposal is not a motion that has been entered, but it will allow Watson a base on which to create a more precise set of figures to present at the next meeting.

After hours of deliberating, Budget Committee Chair Aaron Frazier put the meeting in recess to be adjourned at a later date. The next meeting will be held at 6 p.m. on Thursday, Nov. 10 at the Carter County Courthouse located at 801 East Elk Avenue, where deliberations will continue. The public is invited to attend.