Pulaski County anticipates a nearly $4 million increase in general revenue in 2015 to more than $66 million, and officials are looking to spend at least $1.4 million of it on across-the-board raises for the 1,170 full-time county employees, who have not had raises since 2011.
Raises have been a topic of discussion at the Quorum Court for the past few years. Some officials have worried that pay freezes beget low morale and high turnover, particularly in the sheriff’s office, where base salaries for law enforcement officers are lower than all other major law enforcement agencies operating in the county.
“We’re just not competitive,” sheriff’s office spokesman Lt. Carl Minden said. “Our salary’s not.”
About 20 percent of the county’s workforce left in 2013, according to county data. Human Resources Director Mary Ann Zakrzewski said her office doesn’t categorize the numbers by reason for leaving, but those employees could have left for retirement or another job or could have been fired.
“We’re seeing turnover in positions where we haven’t had turnover,” Zakrzewski said, noting that departments such as the county jail typically have high turnover.
At the sheriff’s office, 66 detention officers — 24.2 percent of jail staff — left in 2013 and already 80 have left in 2014. The jail has 273 employees.
As for the law enforcement division, the sheriff’s office trained to replace 26 officers last year — 21.5 percent of law enforcement staff
— and has already done the same for 12 this year. Another deputy plans to retire in November, making the 13th departure of 2014. The enforcement side of the sheriff’s office employs 121 people.
In a letter to the Quorum Court, four of the county’s five elected officials — and 6th Judicial District Prosecuting Attorney Larry Jegley — urged the Quorum Court to approve 4 percent raises for all county employees.
In the letter, the authors state that the period since 2011 is the “longest period of time, at least since 1986, that County employees have gone without a pay increase.” The letter says employee retention is an “ongoing problem for many departments” and that federal statistics indicate the cost of living has increased 5.7 percent since 2011.
“We realize that a 4 percent raise will not completely offset the increased cost of living, but it is an amount that the county can afford and certainly a step in the right direction,” the letter states.
The letter is signed by County Judge Buddy Villines, Sheriff Doc Holladay, Treasurer Debra Buckner, Assessor Janet Troutman Ward and Jegley. Clerk Larry Crane did not sign the letter but said he supports the raises.
“I am absolutely for county employees getting a raise,” Crane said. “They truly deserve it.”
Crane said his turnover is about 14 percent, and he thinks raises would help keep more employees around.
At the Quorum Court’s Tuesday budget hearing, District 15 Justice of the Peace Shane Stacks, R-North Little Rock, asked Comptroller Mike Hutchens to look into whether the county could afford even higher raises for the sheriff’s office, where he believed turnover was higher than for the rest of the county.
“Turnover, from a bookkeeping perspective, is very wasteful,” he said.
Stacks said he wanted to look into paying deputies more to curb turnover costs related to training new employees and overtime accrued before new employees can fill the vacant positions. He said what he’s doing has nothing to do with favoring law enforcement over other departments.
Stacks said he’s not looking at this point at decreasing the raises proposed for all county employees in favor of raises higher than 4 percent for law enforcement.
“I do appreciate the thought,” Holladay said. “But I also believe that all county employees need a raise.”
Holladay said turnover in his department has to do with law enforcement salaries that aren’t competitive and a jail with worsening conditions because of crowding.
Detention officers also leave because of the “nature of the job,” he said.
The pay scale for a sheriff’s deputy — the lowest law enforcement rank — is $29,952 to $33,691. Detention officers make similar salaries.
Several dozen employees in other county departments make salaries lower than deputies and detention officers.
More than half of the circuit clerk’s staff members have annual salaries less than the starting pay of a sheriff’s deputy.
Hutchens called the $66,279,381 revenue projection a “conservative” and possibly low estimate.
This year’s budget requests total $63.6 million, not including the $1.4 million cost of raises.
That’s about $590,000 lower than last year, thanks mostly to a $900,000 decrease in the Election Commission’s budget because of only one scheduled election next year.
While 22 funds have lower budget requests for next year, 23 have higher.
The Election Commission was the only department that asked for a decrease of more than $25,000, while four departments asked for increases of more than $25,000.
Six funds have the same budget request as this year.