A Harford County Sheriff's Office deputy first class who came out of the training academy eight years ago should be making a base yearly salary of $62,324, but in reality is making almost $12,000 dollars less, the head of the deputies' union says.
That's because the current pay grade plan, adopted by the county eight years, has been all but frozen since.
As a result, as a deputy's service time increases, his or her pay does not increase at the commensurate levels promised, Tim Impallaria, president of the Harford County Deputy Sheriff's Union, said Tuesday.
The pay plan conundrum won't improve very much next year, either, under the merit pay raise County Executive Barry Glassman unveiled as part of his fiscal 2016 budget introduced last week.
Glassman said he would give 890 county government employees a $1,000 raise and also provide funding for $500 raises for Sheriff's Office, library and court employees. He has asked the heads of those agencies, which operate independently from the county administration, to match the $500 dollar-for-dollar. Glassman made a similar proposition to the public school system.
The merit raises would bump up the deputies pay grades by the $1,000 or $500, depending if Sheriff Jeffrey Gahler goes for the higher amount, which is likely, but even so a deputy would not advance to the next yearly step. The final budget for the sheriff, and the county as a whole, also has to be approved by the Harford County Council.
Impallaria said his union has about 270 members who are active deputies, but the situation with the pay plan affects all the agency's employees and they are unified in calling for step raises.
According to the Sheriff's Office, there are 287 sworn law enforcement officers, 140 sworn corrections officers and 109 full-time civilian employees in the agency.
Impallaria also said that while the agency hasn't experienced a mass exodus of deputies, he fears one could be coming, especially if some other police agencies in the area begin agreeing to accept transfer officers' pensions, which most don't.
"We aren't like the teachers where the pension goes with them," he said. "That could change, however, and there are many departments, like Baltimore City, who would like to have an experienced officer join them. It probably takes four or five years for a deputy to get to the top experience, and you don't want to start losing them."
Harford teachers have long had similar complaints about their pay steps being frozen, again because the county and school system haven't funded annual raises in all but one year this decade.
"I understand the position of the Deputy Sheriff's Union and other members of the Harford County Sheriff's Office who were hoping for a higher increase in salary this fiscal year. I also recognize the fiscal constraints facing the County Executive and the tough choices he has to make when deciding how to balance the county's budget," Sheriff Jeffrey Gahler said through a spokesperson Tuesday.
"Furthermore, I admire the work done by the members of the HCSO and the effort they put forth every day to keep Harford County safe," Gahler continued. "As we move through the budget approval process, we are closely analyzing every aspect of our operations in order to ascertain the impact of matching the proposed wage increase offered by the county."
According to the county pay plan, a DFC's starting base salary, after he or she completes required training, is $50,606. A deputy who started eight years ago should be making $62,234 in base salary, but is making the lower amount, Impallaria explained. A seven-year deputy who is making $50,606, should be making $60,424.
In another example, Impallaria said a deputy with 16 years of service, should have a base pay of $78,832 but is actually making $62,234. None of the examples includes any overtime a deputy might make above base salary.
"The problem is you have been locked in" at lower rates, he said.
Although deputies and other sheriff's personnel and county employees received cost of living raises of 4 percent in FY 2013, they still did not advance in steps. Impallaria said the 4 percent was largely eaten up by a 2 percent increase in social security withholding and a 3 percent increase in pension contributions required by the state.
"Mr. Glassman believes public safety is a top priority and understands the frustrations about the pay plan," Cindy Mumby, the county executive's spokesperson, said.
"This is the reason we worked so hard in the first 100 days in office to take steps we hope will eventually get all employees back on their pay plans," Mumby said. "We did everything we could in this first budget and we are going to keep working in that direction."