Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: FRIDAY, August 18, 1995 TAG: 9508180036
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: B1 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
SOURCE: TODD JACKSON STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: ROCKY MOUNT LENGTH: Medium
Overton, concerned about pay inequities and loss of employees to other localities, made the request earlier this summer.
"Morale is not too good right now," he told board members in June.
After Overton and Assistant County Administrator David Laurrell met several times to come up with a way to put the employees on the county's scale, the board voted 6-0 this week in favor of the move.
The switch carries a cost of about $55,000 - money available in this year's budget, according to Laurrell.
Overton, as an elected constitutional officer, will be the only person in the Sheriff's Office not included on the county pay plan.
He will retain the authority to hire and fire his employees.
A study by the Sheriff's Office compared the pay offered by several police departments and sheriff's offices with the salaries in Franklin County.
The study showed experienced employees who work in other localities make as much as $20,000 more a year.
A deputy hired with no experience makes the same salary as one with five to six years' service with the department, Overton said.
Franklin County employees are paid using a state salary structure that the Sheriff's Office adopted in the early 1980s. Before that, the employees were on the county scale.
The study showed that the county has given its employees a total raise of 16 percent during the last five years, while the state's increase during the same period equaled 7.5 percent.
All Sheriff's Office salary ranges will increase under the county scale, Overton said.
A first-year hire makes a little more than $19,000 now. Under the county scale, the first-year pay will be close to $21,000.
Memo: shorter version ran in the Metro edition.