Hundreds of DeKalb County Sheriff’s Office employees will soon receive pay bumps of up to 20%, leaders said Friday, calling it the largest across-the-board salary increase in the agency’s history.
Sheriff Melody Maddox is covering the raises by reallocating money from the $3.8 million that was added to her agency’s coffers during mid-year budget adjustments — a maneuver that could set up a showdown when 2022 budget discussions start later this month.
Other DeKalb officials have said the sheriff’s decision to fund pay increases with money originally allocated for other purposes does not commit the county to ramp up funding on a permanent basis. It’s a position that clashes with the concept of salary increases, which would, by definition, be recurring.
Under Maddox’s plan, starting salaries for new detention officers and deputies will be increased by 20%. All current employees will get a 3.5% bump, with non-supervisors also receiving additional raises to make their pay match what they would be earning if they’d started at the new base rate.
The goal, Chief Deputy Randy Akies told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, is to show appreciation for employees who have stuck around during a tough time — and to help make recruiting new workers easier.
He said the sheriff’s office lost more than 100 employees in 2021 alone. Its 535 or so current employees are well shy of the preferred staffing level of 700-plus.
“Pay increases for current staff, and more competitive salary offers for new hires, have been stalled for too long,” Maddox said in a news release. “The delay has impacted our ability to retain experienced personnel and recruit qualified, career-minded team members.”
In Georgia, sheriffs are constitutional officers and are given a wide legal berth when it comes to budget requests. And once those budgets are allocated by their respective county government, expenditures are at their discretion.
But that doesn’t mean things are always cut and dry.
Maddox, who took over after predecessor Jeffrey Mann stepped down in late 2019 and has since been elected to a full four-year term, made employee pay a top issue during her campaign. She’s spent the last few months attending virtual county commission meetings to advocate — in sometimes fiery fashion — for salary increases.
The county commission ultimately approved some of the funding Maddox requested during the mid-year budget process — but not the request specifically intended to cover large-scale raises.
The sheriff then decided to reallocate some of the money that had already been approved for other purposes and move ahead with pay increases.
During a meeting last month, county commissioners approved a resolution “recognizing” Maddox’s decision to reallocate about $1.3 million toward salaries.
But Zach Williams, the county’s chief operating officer, said at the time that the resolution did not “commit the board in any way, shape or form” to include more funding for continued pay increases in next year’s budget. Commissioner Mereda Davis Johnson went out of her way to clarify as much, referring to Maddox’s planned expenditures as “bonuses.”
Salaries, of course, are recurring expenses, and the sheriff labeling the increases as such presents plenty of questions about how both she and the commission will proceed during 2022 budget discussions.
The county administration, which must present a budget proposal by Dec. 15, declined to comment on the situation Friday.
The sheriff appears ready to fight.
“This is not just a one-time bonus,” Akies, the chief deputy, said. “This is a salary adjustment for all of our current employees as well as the employees that we are trying to recruit.”
NEW STARTING SALARIES
The DeKalb County Sheriff’s Office announced up to 20% salary increases for staffers. Starting rates for new hires will also go up starting in 2022, the office said.
Detention officers
Current starting salaries: $37,170; $39,029 with a four-year degree
New starting salaries: $44,818; $47,060 with a four-year degree
Deputy sheriffs
Current starting salary: $42,504
New starting salary: $51,000
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