MONROE COUNTY, Ga. — At the start of the new year, Monroe County deputies will see a bump in their pay.
We reported in September that Sheriff Brad Freeman was working closely with county commissioners to get a higher annual salary for his deputies.
On Tuesday, county commissioners voted to approve pay raises for all county departments, including the sheriff's department.
Monroe County employs 250 people, and according to a University of Georgia study, they don't get paid enough.
Monroe County chairman Greg Tapley explains, "We were shorthanded and we didn't need that. What's the problem? Well, we're not paying near what other counties are paying."
The study compared them to about 18 other counties of the same size. After the results, commissioners approved roughly $600,000 from the budget to use for pay raises across the board for all county employees.
Tapley says, "Now we're in a position where we are competitive, we can keep people, the turnover's down, I think the team is stronger, because I'm a fan of having a strong team of employees from top to bottom."
Part of that money will go to the sheriff's office to increase deputy starting pay.
"This is one of the few jobs that you come home, you've been shot at or somebody's threatened to kill you, and the pay just really didn't, it really wasn't what you needed for doing that kind of work," says Sheriff Brad Freeman.
Right now, starting pay for a deputy sheriff is around $36,000 annual salary. With the raise, it will be nearly $41,000 annual salary.
The sheriff's office is eight deputies short, according to Sheriff Brad Freeman.
He hopes the pay raises bring people in, but also make deputies stick around.
"The big problem in law enforcement, you spend a lot of money getting them trained and then you just realize they're making that much, so they can do better in the private sector or another law enforcement agency, so what you've actually done is train a guy to move on to another agency," says Freeman.
The pay raise also comes with improvements in health benefits for all county employees.
Other departments that will see raises are public works, the road department, and solid waste.
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