The Garvin County Board of Commissioners has designated $400,000 from the county’s American Relief Plan Act funds to accommodate raises for Sheriff’s Office employees for the remainder of this fiscal year, which ends June 30.
Garvin County Sheriff Jim Mullett approached the commissioners at their April 11 meeting asking for help to increase salaries in the Sheriff’s Office. At that meeting Mullett told commissioners salaries for deputies in Garvin County are currently $2,400 to $12,000 less than comparable positions in surrounding counties, making it increasingly difficult to retain qualified and experienced employees.
During the board’s regular meeting April 25, Mullett and County Clerk Lori Fulks told commissioners they had participated in a phone conference with consulting firm Witt O’Brien’s, which has been hired to help county officials navigate utilizing the more than $5.3 million in ARPA funds the county is expected to receive. As a government service, Sheriff’s office payroll could be an eligible expenditure of funds under ARPA guidelines.
Mullett said after conducting some cost analysis he believes if his office were to receive $1.6 million in ARPA funds, his estimate of a year’s worth of payroll, health insurance and benefits, he would be able implement raises for his department and sustain them while long-term budget solutions are worked out.
“My idea was if we were able to get that money put into our account, along with the budget that I have, we could sustain that for a couple of years. That will give us an opportunity to come up with a plan, a budget plan, to try to figure out how we’re going to keep that up there,” Mullett said.
The Sheriff’s Office still has some CARES Act money that can be used to implement raises for the current month, according to Mullett.
“I can’t sustain that. I’ve got enough to sustain for a couple of months. Obviously, we’re going to go into the new fiscal year in July, and I’m hoping for some help through those monies,” Mullett said.
Fulks suggested the board consider an amount that would fund salaries through the end of the fiscal year.
“I’d like to see you give him enough money to at least get through the next two months, and then we’ll readjust when we get our budget in, and then we may come back and address that again,” Fulks said.
Commissioner Gary Ayres asked how much would be needed to fund salaries for the next two months. Fulks said about $400,000.
The board voted unanimously to designate the $400,000 in ARPA funds to implement raises for the Sheriff’s Office through the end of the fiscal year.
The Board of Commissioners is also considering issuing a one-time premium pay stipend as allowable under ARPA to all county employees who were employed for the majority of 2021 and continue to be employed by the county currently. County officers were asked to compile information for their offices regarding how many employees would be eligible for the stipend.
The amounts and details of that stipend are still being ironed out, and commissioners voted to take no action on the stipend at their April 25 and May 2 regular meetings.