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Hardin County Judge Wayne McDaniel
The Hardin County Commissioners Court agreed to a 4.5% wage increase for most employees, except for some with higher rank in the sheriff’s department.
During the budget workshop portion of the agenda on June 28, the court discussed the revised the Fiscal Year 2023 Wage Analysis.
County Judge Wayne McDaniel stated the 4.5% wage increase would cost the county more than $487,000. The total wages and fringes are $16.654 million, which does not include increases to temporary positions, requests presented by the Salary Committee, or grant matches related to payroll but does include law enforcement and correction officers’ pay scale increases with current certificate pay.
The court reviewed a wage analysis for a 3, 5 and 7% increase. It would cost the county an additional $392,092 for a 3% increase, $653,388 for 5% and $914,700 for 7% in wages and fringes.
“That includes a 6% increase in health insurance premiums,” McDaniel noted. “The actual increase is going to be 5% increase if we stay with the same plan we have or opt to multiple plans which it goes to 7%. If we go with multiple plans, we haven’t put enough in to cover the increase and it would be another 1% increase.”
He said it will be decided at one of the July meetings.
Pct. 4 Commissioner Alvin Roberts requested a wage analysis for 3.5% ($457,000) and 5.5% ($587,000) wage increase.
The total wages and fringes for base wages doing into FY 2023 are $16.1 million. It would increase to $16.45 million with a 3% increase, $16.72 million at 5% and $16.981 million at 7%.
Pct. 1 Commissioner L.W. Cooper Jr., Chair of the Salary Committee, noted one of the group’s main objectives was to restructure county salaries that needed to be addressed.
“It has been years that the sheriff, and the ex-sheriff, have been stating there was a time and the way things were set up, that administrative people in their departments, who were supervising someone, that made more money than they did,” said Cooper. “It was due to the way salaries were structured at that time.”
He said the Salary Committee tried to address the situation where a tenure deputy that worked for several years, did not make more than someone who is supervising deputy.
Cooper said Sheriff Mark Davis recommended to the committee that the certificate pay be increased from $900 to $1,200 per year for a non-supervisory sergeant and to $2,400 per year for supervisory sergeants.
Also recommended was from lieutenant to chief deputy, there would be no more raises based on years of experience but a base pay.
Cooper noted there would be two grades for lieutenants and captains. Grade 1 is a first-timer with no years of experience and Grade 2 has five years of experience. Grade 1 pay for a lieutenant is $71,000 per year and Grade 2 is $72,500. A Grade 1 captain will earn $74,000 and Grade 2 is $75,500.
The top lieutenant is currently making $68,344, according to Cooper.
He added there is no one with the rank of major and entry-level is $76,500 annually. The base pay for a chief deputy is $78,000.
He added Davis gathered information from other nearby police departments on their salaries.
“Some make quite a bit more than the sheriff’s chief deputy,” Cooper remarked. “He based his request on what other departments are making.”
According to Cooper, the sergeants only got the increase in rank pay and they would be eligible for the 3-5 percentage raise the court gives,” Cooper said. “The lieutenants and some above are going to get more than 5% if we implement this.”
Only sergeants and below would get the cost-of-living raise.
He said the total increase in the sheriff’s department would be $51,649 without fringes and benefits. “It sounds like a lot of money and it is, but it needed to be done,” said Cooper.
The commissioner added the recommendation should be an incentive to draw people to work and have tenure in the sheriff’s department.
Chief Deputy Mark Minton said the salaries are still lower than other agencies – some significantly.
McDaniel said 1995 was the last time he compared a county deputy’s salary to a Lumberton Police officer.
“They made more than a deputy did then,” said the county judge. “Then it was only a couple of thousand difference but that gap has grown over the years.”
Lumberton Police Chief Danny Sullins noted his department has a 16-year salary plan.
“Every year, the city increases that from whatever cost-of-living raise we get,” Sullins said. “It changes and goes up every year.”
Pct. 2 Commissioner Chris Kirkendall noted that Lumberton Police officers do not pay into Social Security which is about 6%.
“We do pay that and it reflected on our fringes,” added Kirkendall. “I think that makes a big gap between the county and Lumberton PD.”
McDaniel said they will review the sheriff’s budget during the court’s July 12 meeting. “He’s not asking for any additional personnel,” he added.
Roberts noted the state mandates how much revenue a county can bring in. “We can’t go up because we are stuck, thanks to Austin,” he said. “They are steadily squeezing the county and no one is noticing it but us.”