Raise for Sheriff’s Department employees
A major topic of discussion for Scott County Commission in 2023 was a proposal to eliminate two positions at the Scott County Sheriff’s Office and use the money saved to provide a 52-cent hourly pay raise to employees of the department. Commissioners ultimately approved the proposal on August 21, 2023.
The subject of law enforcement pay continued after the August 2023 meeting. Fourth District Commissioner Shonda Gray proposed a $10 wheel tax that would provide a $2 hourly raise to deputies. Ultimately, commissioners approved an 8% pay raise for all county employees, effective July 1, 2024.
The Issue
Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee implemented grant funding for each of the Volunteer State’s counties to place school resource officers (SROs) in each public school. Scott County’s share of the funding was $525,000, which includes an $18.12 per hour salary for each of seven SROs, as well as related equipment and expenses.
The grant funding is annual with no guarantee for renewal.
The Scott County Sheriff’s Department was previously funding two SRO positions through its budget. Because of the state grant dollars, those two positions are no longer needed. Due to a government doctrine known as “maintenance of effort,” Scott County Commission cannot eliminate positions at the Sheriff’s Department; only the sheriff can do that.
Sheriff Brian Keeton proposed eliminating the two positions and using the money to provide a 52-cent hourly pay increase for all employees of his department — including law enforcement officers, corrections officers, and dispatchers.
The Need for a Pay Raise
The pay scale at the Scott County Sheriff’s Department is lower than the pay scale at every law enforcement agency in surrounding counties. Rookie officers start at $13.99 an hour. Because of this, Keeton told commissioners, he is losing law enforcement officers to neighboring agencies that can offer them more money. At a Budget Committee meeting on August 7, 2023, Keeton said that his department lost eight employees in July 2023 alone, five of whom left for higher pay at a neighboring agency.
The Need for School Security
At County Commission’s regular session on July 17, 2023, 4th District Commissioner Kenny Chadwell raised the possibility of using the two unneeded positions in the Sheriff’s Department’s budget to place a second SRO at Scott High School. The state grant provides for just one SRO at the school.
Chadwell opined that, at nearly 800 students, Scott High has a greater security need than Scott County’s much smaller elementary schools. Keeton countered that Scott High has never had two SROs.
Following Chadwell’s comments, the proposal to eliminate the two positions at the Sheriff’s Department failed by a 9-3 vote at that July 17 meeting, with a promise of the issue being revisited at an August 2023 work session.
At the work session, Chadwell again stated his preference for a second SRO at Scott High, but said the decision was ultimately the sheriff’s to make, since it is the sheriff’s budget.
The second vote
At County Commission’s regular session on August 21, 2023, commissioners voted 12-2 to approve the elimination of two positions at the Sheriff’s Department, and for the funding to instead be used to provide a 52-cent hourly pay raise for employees of the department.
The two commissioners voting against the proposal were 2nd District Commissioner Joyce Keeton and 3rd District Commissioner Sheila Buttram, both of whom stated their support for a second SRO at Scott High. Commissioner Keeton said Scott County is doing students “a disservice” by not placing a second SRO at the school.
On the other hand, 3rd District Commissioner Amy Jeffers and 6th District Commissioner Shon Terry spoke out in favor of eliminating the positions and providing a pay raise to employees.
Other Positions
Asked for his opinion at the August 7, 2023 Budget Committee meeting, Scott County Director of Schools Bill Hall said that commissioners should award Sheriff’s Department personnel a pay raise.
At its meeting on August 10, 2023, the Scott County Board of Education appeared united in its belief that a second SRO is needed at Scott High. Third District representative Linda Sharp launched the discussion, saying that Scott High needs both a male and a female SRO.
Scott High principal Jeremy Hamby agreed with Sharp’s position.
Possible Solutions
Chadwell suggested that commissioners could eliminate one position at the Sheriff’s Department and provide a second SRO at Scott High while also giving employees of the Sheriff’s Department a 29-cent pay raise. That possibility was never formally considered by County Commission.
Hall told the Board of Education at its August 10, 2023 meeting that he intended to ask the Scott County Finance Committee, which he is a member of, to fund a second SRO position at Scott High School.
At the Budget Committee meeting on August 7, 2023, Chadwell asked Sheriff Keeton if he would be willing to consider transitioning one of his vacant law enforcement officer positions to an SRO position if he is unable to fill the job. Keeton indicated that he would be willing to consider the possibility.
Chadwell indicated that he would support adding money to the Sheriff’s Department’s budget to pay an additional SRO at Scott High School the same salary as provided for by the state SRO grant — a difference of $4.13 an hour when compared to Scott County’s salary schedule for rookie law enforcement officers at the Sheriff’s Department.
Should such a measure be implemented prior to the end of the Fiscal Year 2023-2024 budget year on June 30, 2024, the funding would have to come from Scott County’s fund balance. Beginning with the new budget year on July 1, 2024, the funding could come from cuts made elsewhere in the budget, or from a small property tax increase if necessary.
Wheel tax proposal
At a special session on September 26, 2023, 4th District County Commissioner Shonda Gray proposed a $10 or $20 wheel tax, which she said would generate $183,944 to $367,889 annually and pay for a $2-an-hour increase for Sheriff’s Department deputies’ pay.
A wheel tax requires a two-thirds vote of County Commission on two separate occasions, along with a public hearing. Alternatively, a simple majority vote of County Commission can approve a referendum that will allow voters to decide the issue at an upcoming election.
In October 2023, the Independent Herald editorialized that it is vital for county government to take action to raise officers’ pay.
8% pay raise
The subject of pay for Scott County Sheriff’s Department employees continued into the budgeting process in the spring of 2024. Scott County Sheriff Brian Keeton requested a $3-an-hour pay raise for his employees. Separately, Scott County Mayor Jerried Jeffers requested a 15% across-the-board increase for all county employees.
Scott County Commission’s Budget Committee said that it could provide an 8% pay raise to county employees without raising the county’s property tax rate. While not specifically calling for a tax increase, Jeffers said that the gap between the 8% pay raise proposed by the Budget Committee and the 15% pay raise he proposed could be bridged with a property tax increase of five or six cents — a cost of about $35 per year for the average Scott County homeowner.
A property tax increase was not recommended by the Budget Committee. However, one member of the committee — First District County Commissioner David Jeffers — suggested that a local option sales tax could be implemented to help fund an additional pay increase. Numbers presented by Mayor Jerried Jeffers from the Tennessee Comptroller’s Office projected that a .5% local option sales tax — the maximum allowed by state law, which would effectively raise the sales tax to 9.75% in Scott County — would generate $603,689.33. However, half of that would be earmarked for local school systems under state law, while the remaining half would be split between the county and municipalities based on where the business generating the sales tax is located. For example, any sales tax from purchases made at Walmart would go to the Town of Oneida, while sales tax from the Dollar General in Robbins would go to Scott County.
Ultimately, County Commission approved the fiscal year 2024-2025 budget with an 8% pay increase for all county employees on June 24, 2024. It took effect on July 1, 2024.
As the 2024-2025 fiscal year began, Scott County Sheriff’s Department pay still trailed that of law enforcement agencies in neighboring Fentress and Morgan counties.