County questions pay raise figures

Just as Cape Girardeau County commissioners seemed to have solved the issue of how to fund raises for deputies and other employees in the sheriff's department, another argument erupted Thursday over the size of the increases.

When voters approved a new sales tax in August by a narrow margin, one item promised was expanded law enforcement for rural areas and pay raises to help control the high turnover rate among deputies. The sales tax takes effect Jan. 1, and Sheriff John Jordan has asked for $6,392 for each deputy with state certification and $4,705 each for jailers, communications officers and courtroom bailiffs.

But because the new revenue won't begin arriving in county coffers until March, commissioners have struggled with how to fund the raises in 2007, which will cost about $670,000.

Commissioners are working out the final details of the 2007 budget. After discussions with Jordan, Commissioner Jay Purcell was ready to propose a solution to the cash flow difficulty -- a check for each deputy on or around July 1 that covers a pay raise retroactive to Jan. 1, with the new pay rate built into future paychecks.

"This way we keep our word and still have sufficient revenue for our other needs as we move forward," Purcell said.

But Presiding Commmissioner Gerald Jones questioned the figures supplied by Jordan, as did Commissioner Larry Bock. "I never heard a dollar figure," Jones said, referring to the meetings where he, Bock, Purcell and Jordan made joint presentations to community groups to promote the tax.

Bock said the key is to make the pay rates competitive with Jackson and Cape Girardeau but that the final decision on how much will be spent on the raises remains in commissioners' hands.

Jordan, who was not present for the commissioners' discussions, said he based his request for raises on the differences between starting pay for deputies and county communications officers and the starting pay for Cape Girardeau Police Department patrolmen and communications officers.

In 2006, those differences were $6,392 and $4,705, respectively. The difference will grow Jan. 1, when a 2 percent increase in the salary schedule for Cape Girardeau city employees takes effect.

Jackson police officers receive a starting pay of $24,299; communications officers start at $22,356. But Jackson city government, unlike the county or the city of Cape Girardeau, offers workers fully paid health-care coverage for their families, a benefit worth about $7,000 a year.

"I thought we had this worked out," Jordan said. "We'll keep hammering at it. At some point, we've got to call a timeout to all this crap."

During the county budget discussions, Jones said he wanted certified pay numbers from the city of Cape Girardeau to confirm the amounts requested by Jordan.

Jordan will meet with commissioners at 9 a.m. Tuesday in a special commission meeting to discuss the pay issue. Commissioners must complete their budget deliberations in time for a Thursday morning public hearing on the spending plan.

Total revenue from the half-cent sales tax during 2007 is expected to be between $4.1 million and $4.7 million. A road paving program, spending to replace the property tax revenue for the Cape Special Road District and money to fund future operations of the County Highway Department also have claims on the money.

While deputies will likely wait until July for their raises, payments of sales tax money for the Cape Special Road District, which will replace the district's property tax levy, will begin the same month the county begins receiving the revenue. Commissioners on Thursday approved an intergovernmental agreement with the road district.

rkeller@semissourian.com

335-6611, extension 126