Habersham County Commissioners are still working their way through the proposed 2016 budget but have come to consensus on hiring new public safety personnel and giving all employees a pay increase.
The spending plan totals more than $20 million. $268,311 is set aside for new hires.
Many of the new folks will be funded by budget cuts in other areas. Sheriff Joey Terrell says he cut his department’s spending by $83,000. “We cut some overtime and some part time.” The savings covers about half the cost of hiring 2 new patrol officers and 2 detention center officers. “We will hopefully be adding some extra personnel to the roads soon to better protect our citizens.”
Dept. |
New Hires |
Cost* |
|
Sheriff |
2 Patrol Officers |
$89,658 |
|
Detention Center |
2 Officers | $78,156 |
|
Fire |
3 Firemen |
$117,234 |
|
E911 |
1 Operator |
$38,778 |
|
District Attorney |
1 Assistant DA |
$15,000** |
| Animal Control | 1 Part-Time |
$12,485 |
* Includes salaries, benefits and other employee costs
**Assistant DA position is only partially funded by the county.
Sheriff Terrell did not get the 5% increase in officer pay he’d asked for. Instead, the county will likely boost all employee pay by 3.5%. “We asked for 5% because we’re losing people. We’re losing people to industry because they can make more money and get better insurance,” explains Sheriff Terrell. While it’s less than he’d hoped, he says he is satisfied with what commissioners are willing to do, “The 3.5% the county is considering is a good thing because you have to try to retain your employees.”
The 3.5% pay raise will cost the county $274,707
County Manager Phil Sutton says employee retention is a real problem because Habersham lags behind nearby communities when it comes to our overall pay scale, “We’re between 12% and 13% behind the market. It was okay when the economy was bad and we had a lot of unemployment. Now that unemployment is around 5%, we are having a hard time keeping people.”
911/EMA Director Lynn Smith agrees, “Our turnover is very high. It’s hard to get qualified people. Out of ten people that I hire, I might keep two.” Smith has employees sign a contract stating that they’ll stay with the department for 3 years or face a financial penalty. “Some are willing to pay the penalty to leave and go to other counties where they can make more money. I can’t compete.”
Leaders say they’d like to do more to increase employee pay but can’t with the current financial situation. “The economy needs to turn around a in a much bigger way for us,” Sutton says. “We need to really see more commercial and industrial development here before we see any growth in revenue in order to catch up at all.”
Right now, leaders are not expecting much of an increase in property values and say they will keep the millage rate (tax rate) the same for the coming year. The budget must be in place by July 1. Commissioners will hold two public meetings prior to passing the spending plan. The first will be June 15 the second will follow on June 22. They plan to vote on the budget and 2016 millage rate on June 22. Times for the public hearings have not been set.
