In an effort to get sheriff deputies off the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, Gov. Terry McAuliffe is proposing to give 2,700 deputies in Virginia a “much-needed” raise.
The governor announced Dec. 17 a set of priorities he would like the General Assembly to consider, including giving $1.5 million to the state compensation board to raise deputies’ salaries by as much as $2,000.
McAuliffe said it was “unacceptable” to have some deputies on SNAP benefits.
If the General Assembly accepts his recommendations as is, deputies holding grade seven positions — the starting grade positions of all deputies — will see an increase in their paychecks from $29,081 to $31,009 over the next two years. Deputies of the next grade — grade eight— will have their salaries increase from $31,788 to $32,009.
“This is just the tip of a much broader issue related to the salaries we provide for our public servants,” McAuliffe said during his remarks to the General Assembly’s joint money committees. “I view this budget item as a first step toward fair pay, not the complete solution.”
Locally, The York-Poquoson Sheriff’s Office and the York-Poquoson Courthouse Sheriff’s Office have 27 deputies on a grade eight salary and none on a grade seven salary.
York County provides all of its deputies with a county salary that is greater than what the state compensation board — the entity responsible for determining the budget for constitutional officers in the state — issues. Because of the way the departments are funded, York County would receive the difference in salary and use the money to offset costs.
For the 2015 fiscal year budget, which runs from July 1 to June 30, the state compensation board gave YPSO $2.5 million, while the county adopted $4.38 million for salaries of YPSO law enforcement individuals.
In the courthouse, $1.32 million was budgeted for personnel last fiscal year.
Sheriff J.D. “Danny” Diggs said he does not have any deputies currently on food stamps, but gave positive remarks on the governor’s initiative to take deputies off assistance.
“We appreciate him putting that in the budget,” he said.
Most of the Williamsburg-James City County Courthouse Sheriff’s Office’s full- and part-time deputies are on a grade seven or grade eight salaries, said Sheriff Bob Deeds.
Deeds expressed some skepticism on the proposed budget given the state of the economy.
“We do our jobs day to day, and if something like that happens that’s great, and if it doesn’t, well, we’re going to soldier on,” Deeds said.
Like York County, The WJCC Sheriff’s Office is part of a county pay plan, which last year adopted $1.2 million for the 16 employees in the sheriff’s office.
As far as Deeds knows, none of his deputies are receiving SNAP benefits.
The Compensation Board reported a 3 percent increase in all constitutional officers’ salaries in August 2013, the first salary increase for deputies since 2007.
A total of $1.57 million in salary increases has been included in McAuliffe’s proposal for the 2,700 deputies across the state.
