Richland County will raise pay for public safety jobs after sheriff’s plea
After pushback against a raise for Richland County Council members and a public request from the county sheriff, Richland County Council this week approved a plan to increase pay for some county employees.
Council members approved the plan at a meeting Tuesday, increasing the pay rates for employees in public safety positions — sheriff’s deputies, EMS and attorneys in the solicitor’s and public defender’s offices.
Employees at the Richland County Sheriff’s Department making less than $55,000 will see pay raises between $80 and $4,999, with an average pay bump per employee of $2,215, according to the recommended pay scale council members adopted Tuesday.
Starting pay for the lowest-paid sheriff’s deputies will rise to $36,508, while the next level of deputies will get a raise in their starting pay to $45,000.
Entry-level attorneys in both the solicitor’s office and the public defender’s office as well as court-appointed advocates will get a raise from $52,483 to $62,000, while other lawyers will receive a staggered increase depending on their position and years of service.
Paramedics in EMS will receive an average pay increase of 4.75%.
The changes will take effect for the rest of the 2022-23 fiscal year, using savings from vacant positions in the county government. If the raises continue into the next fiscal year starting July 1, the county would need to find an additional $2,457,600 to cover the increases; either from cuts to other expenditures, tax increases or tapping money from federal American Rescue Plan funds.
The decision to increase county employees’ pay comes after Sheriff Leon Lott pleaded with the council for a pay raise, saying dozens of deputies had left the department this year over low pay. Members of the county council had voted themselves an $8,000 pay increase last month by tying the part-time council members’ pay to that of the lowest-paid full-time county employees.
Outgoing councilman Joe Walker had asked the state Ethics Commission if the council was able to give itself a pay increase just before a November election when many of the incumbent council members were running for reelection unopposed, but the Ethics Commission said it was unable to offer an advisory opinion after the fact.
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