WILMINGTON — Describing it as probably the worst year in his 34 years with the sheriff’s office for losing deputies, Clinton County Sheriff Ralph Fizer Jr. proposed Monday to raise pay rates for the deputies.
Fizer recommended raising deputies’ starting hourly rate from the current $14.94 to $16.50. He also advocated increasing the deputies’ “top-out” hourly rate — that is, the maximum hourly rate for road deputies — from $19.47 to $21.
The sheriff made his proposals during the annual budget meeting Monday between the Board of Clinton County Commissioners and the county sheriff’s office.
If the proposed raises take place in 2017, Fizer said it would be “a decent start” but it would not bring Clinton County’s deputy sheriffs to the pay level of comparable law enforcement personnel in comparable area counties.
The proposed pay increases, with benefits factored in, would amount to a $290,000 increase at the sheriff’s office.
Partly due to the loss of deputies, the sheriff’s office is presently “on track” to turn $300,000 back in at the end of 2016, said Fizer. He suggested those dollars be used to cover the proposed 2017 raises.
During 2016, the local sheriff’s office has been down at least three deputies and sometimes four, said the sheriff.
Deputies often depart to go to nearby counties where they get more money, he said.
Compared to Clinton County’s starting hourly pay rate for deputies of $14.94, the starting hourly rate for Brown County deputies is $16.85, in Highland County it’s $17.39, in Pike County $17.40, in Fayette County $18.41, in Pickaway County $19.66 and in Madison County $21.45, according to figures handed out at the meeting.
Clinton County Commissioner Patrick Haley, a former Clinton County sheriff, complimented Fizer on returning funds to the county at year-end for several consecutive years.
No action was taken on the sheriff’s request, as commissioners will keep meeting with department heads into November before drawing up the 2017 county budget.
Clinton County Auditor Terry Habermehl also met with commissioners Monday. He said in a short phone interview afterward that he tried to keep his funding requests as flat as possible as commissioners had requested of all department heads prior to the start of budget season.
During the county auditor’s budget meeting with commissioners Monday, Clinton County Commissioner Kerry R. Steed brought up a $7,500 raise during 2016 for Clinton County Chief Deputy Auditor Carol McFall. Habermehl said he increased McFall’s salary in April in connection with her taking on added duties, and also for the work she has done for the county as chief deputy auditor.
Habermehl said the money for McFall’s raise came out of the real estate investment fund, and not out of the general fund.
Prior to Monday’s budget meetings, Clinton County Community Action Board of Trustees Vice Chairman Randy Riley stopped by concerning a funding request made three months ago to county commissioners. Community Action requested that $90,000 of Elderly Services Levy funds be directed toward programs and expenses of the Clinton County Senior Center annually.
Clinton County Commissioner President Mike Curry said that now that there’s a fully functioning Senior Services Advisory Committee again, he wanted to see the funding request and related information from Council on Aging be submitted to the committee with a subsequent recommendation from the committee.
Riley said sending the request to the committee would be a “very appropriate use of that advisory board.”
Reach Gary Huffenberger at 937-556-5768.
