Sheriff seeks $1.8 million budget increase for new employee salary scale

The proposed 2024-25 Hawkins County General Fund budget presented to the commission’s Budget Committee last week had a $2.211 million deficit, which historically for the first draft is not as bad as it’s been in recent years.

But, that proposed budget doesn’t include the millions of dollars in funding increase requests the Budget Committee received during the first round of budget hearings last Wednesday and Thursday.

A few examples include:

Hawkins County Sheriff Ronnie Lawson’s proposed 2024-25 budget seeks an additional $1.8 million to revise his salary scale in hopes of improving officer recruitment and retention.

Hawkins County EMS requested a $400,000 funding increase to upgrade aging equipment and improve employee benefits.

Hawkins County E-911 is requesting $284,913 to hire new dispatchers to make the department fully staffed.

The Church Hill Fire Department is seeking an additional $30,000 to offset expenses for providing fire protection at the Phipps Bend Industrial Park.

The Stanley Valley VFD is seeking $30,000 to upgrade equipment.

The Church Hill Rescue Squad is seeking an extra $30,000 to help pay for structural repairs to their station.

The Persia VFD is seeking an additional $50,000 to construct a new building.

Goshen Valley VFD is seeking $7,000 extra to install a 500 gallon fuel tank and fill it up one time because heavy fire trucks are no longer crossing the Goshen Valley Bridge where gas stations are located.

And in the separate Highway Department budget Highway Superintendent Danny Jones is seeking an extra $1 million to hire new employees, increase wages, and equipment upgrades — putting his proposed 2024-25 budget $2.8 million in the red.

The Budget Committee was scheduled to meet Tuesday morning to begin making decisions for the purpose of creating a proposed second draft of the budget.

Also still pending is the Hawkins County Board of Education’s budget which will be presented to the Budget Committee on May 6.

Check the Review website at www.therogersvillereview.com and/or the Rogersville Review Facebook page for updates on the budget and complete video coverage of last week’s and Tuesday’s Budget Hearings.

Sheriff’s Budget

The HCSO is proposing a revised salary scale which would increase the cost to the county in 2024-25 by $1.8 million.

Sheriff Ronnie Lawson told the Budget Committee during last Thursday’s budget hearings that his department is currently short staffed by 10 officers including two patrol deputies, seven corrections officers, and one court security officer.

Since 2010 the HCSO has lost 313 employees to higher paying jobs including 71 who left in the past two years. Lawson said the HCSO is a training center for other higher paying law enforcement agencies.

At the current pay level most of the job applications he receives for jail personnel are from young prospects in their late teens who have no experience.

The Hawkins County Jail has 268 beds, but the population generally hovers around 290, and over 300 on weekends. Many of those inmates are hardened criminals, murder suspects and gang members.

Lawson said there have been 341 incidents in the jail since January, mostly fights, and three officers have been injured in line of duty in jail. Lawson said he won’t put young, inexperienced officers in the jail where they face a variety of serious dangers.

“You want professional, well trained officers protecting citizens, schools and courts,” Lawson told the committee. “I’ve lost 1,095 years of experience. I can put a body in a uniform, but it’s hard to replace experience.”

Over the past decade the HCSO has paid $2.3 million to train officers who eventually went elsewhere to work. During that time the HCSO sent 83 people to academy, of whom 39 still there.

“You get what you pay for,” Lawson said. “I know this is hard to swallow but when you spend $2.3 million for nothing it’s time to take a different look.”

Budget Committee chairman Jason Roach noted that the sheriff’s $1.8 million request would require 14.7 cents on the property tax rate to fully fund.

Commissioner Robbie Palmer presented salary comparisons showing the HCSO as the lowest paid sheriff’s office in the region.

Palmer noted, “There’s no reason why we can’t compete with other counties. What we’ve been doing for the past 10 years isn’t working. Can we make what you requested happen? I don’t know. But we’ve got to do something.”