The sheriff’s budget is by far the biggest in the general fund at $40.6 million, an 8.8 percent increase over this year. Chief Tony Dwyer said dispatch center and jail understaffing and the need to beef up electronic monitoring staff caused the request for 23 more people.
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He said the office knows it won’t get all it asked for.
“It’s the budget we prepare early on, it’s not a definitive budget but it’s what we start with,” he said.
The sheriff’s office also generates income, including an estimated $14 million next year, which would be a 15 percent increase. The bulk of that comes from boarding prisoners at the jail. The sheriff is projecting jail revenues at $8.5 million, a $500,000 jump for the general fund.
The largest source of revenue for the general fund is sales tax, estimated at $44 million, followed by property taxes, estimated at almost $14 million next year. The sheriff is the next biggest contributor to the general fund.
County Prosecutor Mike Gmoser for years has tried to get raises for his assistant prosecutors he says are commensurate with other prosecutors’ offices and the defense attorneys they face in court. He is proposing an 11 percent raise ($9,873) for Brad Buress, who is now chief of his criminal division, which would bring his salary up to $89,760. He is also looking for 10 percent raises for four other attorneys and 8 percent hikes for two other assistant prosecutors.
“After about eight years I think it’s time, the budget seems to be making great strides towards being balanced, and I think the time is now to make a pitch for equivalent pay to what other counties are doing,” he said, adding “I don’t want to lose career prosecutors to the private sector.”
Earlier this year he gave Chief Assistant Prosecutor Dan Ferguson a 15 percent pay hike when he took over for retired chief Roger Gates. Ferguson now earns $112,000, and he “is worth every penny” Gmoser said.
Just under 40 percent of Ferguson’s salary comes out of the general fund, and the bulk is paid with delinquent tax assessment collections funds.
Overall the prosecutor is seeking a four percent increase for raises. Gmoser also wants to add another assistant prosecutor.
Commissioner Don Dixon said the tax budget is always a “wish list” and the expenditures aren’t “out in left field.”
“I’m confident at the end of the day at the end of this year it will all be structurally balanced,” he said. “If there are additional expenditures there will be additional revenue coming from somewhere.”
The Veterans Service Commission is another area asking for more than 2 percent raises, at 5 percent. For the past several years the county commissioners have approved raises up to 2 percent added to an employee’s base salary and another bump — up to 2 percent — in lump sum raises.
Vet Board Executive Director Caroline Bier said no one in her office has ever receiveda raise of more than 4 percent and her board wants to make sure they stay competitive and have enough budgeted if the commissioners offer the incentive raises again.
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“We budget for that, we never exceed that,” Bier said. “It’s just that the commissioners want to have that budget available to ensure that our employees are compensated fairly and competitively.
She has also included a new service officer for the Middletown office and will fill two positions that were budgeted for this year but have remained vacant.
Competitive salaries are also the reason the Area Courts have pencilled in 3 percent raises for their employees. Area III Court Judge Dan Haughey said the court losesclerks frequently to other courts within the county and to the outside.
“It was essentially out of necessity to be able to keep our employees. Even with the increases the turnover for our court clerks is rampant with other county agencies,” Haughey said. “Area II we recently lost two of our clerks to the public defenders office. You know if we don’t pay as well as the public defender we’re not paying very well, by comparison.”
The Common Pleas Court also stepped just outside the guidelines, as the judges want 3 percent raises for their people.
“We look at a number of factors and right now that’s kind of where we’re leaning,” Court Administrator Wayne Gilkison.
The courts are one entity that could force the commissioners to approve their spending plan with a court order, but no one can ever remember that happening here.
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