Actions taken by the Governor and General Assembly during the 2020 Special Session required that a one-time, $500 bonus be paid in December 2020 to Compensation Board-funded sworn positions in the Sheriff’s Office, all of which are full-time positions. Out of all 255 budgeted full-time Public Safety Pay Scale positions in the Sheriff’s Office, only 87 of those are sworn positions funded through the Comp Board. As such, we can expect to receive a total of $46,828 from the State to fund the required $500 bonus (and related FICA benefits) for 87 full-time, sworn Sheriff’s Office employees. It is only these 87 employees to whom we were required to pay the bonus in December 2020, and the Board voted on December 8 to move ahead first only with the 87 required bonuses and for staff to return with additional information at the first Board meeting in January 2021. The item was tabled at the first January meeting with instructions from the Board to bring the item back to the second January meeting.
Though not required by State actions and now law, County Administration recommends that this bonus be extended to all position titles on the Public Safety Pay Scale approved by the Board last year. This allows for all sworn positions – not just those funded by the Comp Board – as well as Communications Operators and Communications Officers to be included in the bonus payment. Further, we recommend that regular part-time employees in positions with titles on the Public Safety Pay Scale receive a pro-rated bonus commensurate with their FTE. For example, a part-time Sheriff’s Deputy occupying a 0.63 FTE would receive a one-time $315 bonus. Those in the Sheriff’s Office and Fire/Rescue not receiving a bonus under this recommendation are those in administrative positions and/or who are temporary/other-than-regular part-time employees. The staff recommendation is reflected in the attached budget adjustment and appropriation.
To be consistent with the parameters of the State-mandated bonus, we are using December 1, 2020 as the date on which employees must have been employed in Public Safety Pay Scale positions to qualify for the bonus.
A Board member asked what it would cost to extend the bonus to full-time and regular part-time FTEs beyond just those on the Public Safety Pay Scale and then requested that staff bring back information regarding the cost of a bonus for full-time and regular part-time FTEs making $80,000 or less. The costs and number of employees affected are shown in the following table. It should be noted that 25 (29%) of the 87 Sheriff’s Office employees who received the State- mandated bonus in December have salaries of $80,000 or more. The 87 employees to whom the State-mandated bonus was paid in December are excluded from the figures in the table.
Scenario*
|
All
|
$80,000 or Less
|
Cost
|
Count
|
Cost
|
Count
|
Public Safety (PS) Scale positions
|
$212,312
|
403
|
$187,553
|
357
|
All Employees (includes PS)
|
$531,839
|
1,036
|
$459,714
|
902
|
*Applicable to Full-Time and Regular Part-Time positions with an associated FTE.