CLEVELAND — White County officials hope increased compensation approved this week will keep more public safety employees in the county.
The White County Board of Commissioners voted Monday to provide a $2 per hour increase for sheriff’s office, detention center and E-9-1-1 dispatch employees, effective immediately.
About 30 sheriff’s office employees attended the work session/called meeting.
Commission Chairman Travis Turner said the measure is the first part of "proactive steps in retaining and recruiting employees.”
White County Sheriff Neal Walden said it will benefit his office greatly.
“Man, that's going to be a tremendous help to me, because I was losing folks right and left to these surrounding counties,” Walden said. “Now with the entry level up $2 an hour, I can compete with what the surrounding counties are paying. And it's going to give me an application pool there to pull from and I can fill some of the slots I have.”
Walden said it takes money to get and retain the personnel he needs.
According to the sheriff, the increased compensation will bring the starting pay in his office up to $17 per hour – not as much as other counties are paying, but good enough to keep people who want to stay in the county and work.
Walden has been lobbying the commissioners for several years to provide adequate pay for his employees.
The commissioners also asked County Manager Mike Melton and County Clerk/Human Resources Director Shanda Murphy to develop a plan to increase compensation for other county employees during the upcoming year's budget process. They will be discussing those potential raises between now and July.
