Politics & Government

Budget Session Focuses on Sheriff's Department Salaries

The St. Charles County Council looks at bringing salaries closer in line with that of the municipalities.

A 2012 budget work session Monday focused on salaries, especially for St. Charles County Sheriff’s Department law enforcement officers.

“One thing I’ve been trying to work on is getting St. Charles County deputies up to the average pay of law enforcement in the municipalities,” said Council Chairman Joe Brazil, R-District 2. “My view is our deputies are underpaid.”

Lt. Craig McGuire of the sheriff’s department said that over the past 10 years, 88 employees left the department; 52 of them left for other law enforcement agencies or the private sector.

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McGuire also read salary averages compiled from listings on stltoday.com that showed salary discrepancies between the county and municipal law enforcement agencies.

Sergeants

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  • St. Charles County — $58,241           
  • — $71,234
  • — $72,430
  • — $81,236

Patrolmen

  • St. Charles County — $48,418           
  • O’Fallon — $57,091
  • St. Peters — $59,242
  • St. Charles — $64,839

Brazil also said that experienced officers were not being compensated for their experience, as officers with 10 years experience make barely more than new officers.

Brazil said one solution would be to charge school districts for school resource officers. He said,

Finance Director Bob Schnur said that O’Fallon and St. Charles charge school districts half the officer’s salary for a nine-month period. St. Peters does the same for 10 months, while charges two-thirds the officer’s salary. He said that would raise from $150,000 to $175,000 for the county.

However, Schnur said turnover affects all county departments, not just the Sheriff’s Department.

“We’ve got 46 people in the Sheriff’s Department at pay grade 11 or more, and 11 people out of 44 in the Highway Department (are at pay grade 11),” he said. “There’s a (turnover) problem across the board.”

Brazil said the county has to address the problem in bites here and there.

The 2012 budget proposal:

  • Forecasts a 1.5 percent increase in 2012 sales tax revenue (2011 is forecast to come in at a 2.5 percent increase over 2010);
  • Includes a 1 percent pay increase for all employees and a 2 percent pay increase for employees based on merit;
  • Had departments submit operational budgets assuming no growth from the 2011 budget;
  • Does not fund 27.6 full-time positions that currently are vacant, but does not delete the positions;
  • Eliminates 1.5 full-time positions;
  • Adds two full-time employees in the Highway Department and one each in the Parks and Elections departments.

In his letter to the council while submitting the budget, County Executive Steve Ehlmann wrote that the county has defunded or eliminated 49 positions in the last four years.

To see the full proposed 2012 budget, click on the document under the photos section.


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