With a new budget season on the horizon, Cobb Commission Chairman Mike Boyce said this week his agenda for 2020 is clear-cut.
He told members of the East Cobb Business Association on Tuesday that his top budget priorities are to keep the current property tax millage rate in place, and continue reducing the amount of money the county borrows from the water fund.
Another major objective he’s bringing up next week is a revised step-and-grade salary proposal for public safety personnel that he said “is a really big deal” for police officers, firefighters, sheriff’s deputies, sworn personnel and others.
“There’s nothing else on my plate,” Boyce said during a luncheon at the Olde Towne Athletic Club.
After the Cobb Board of Commissioners approved a one-time bonus, a seven-percent pay raise and an outline for a step-and-grade plan last year, Boyce floated a more detailed proposal last fall that fell flat with some of his colleagues or public safety leaders.
On Tuesday, Boyce will present a revised proposal that would cost an additional $5.7 million annually: $2.1 million for police, $2 million for fire and $1.6 million for the sheriff’s office.
Boyce wants to fast-track this proposal as well, having it take effect for the pay period starting on March 22, if approved.
According to a summary of the proposal included in the commissioners’ meeting agenda, $3.3 million of that new revenue would come from state title and ad valorem tax (TAVT) collections, with $1.1 million coming from the county’s general fund, and another $1.1 million from the fire fund.
The step-and-grade structure is similar to what Cobb County School District employees receive—annual, incremental and automatic raises based on a combination of factors, including years of service, promotions and performance reviews.
Under the revised proposal, the starting salary for an entry-level police officer, sheriff’s deputy or firefighter would jump from around $41,000 a year to $46,000, with the highest salary at that position earning $70,840.
Salaries for the highest police officer and firefighter positions would range from $67,290 to $103,626. For rank-and-file sheriff’s deputies, that top-end range would be $48,435 to $74,590.
The pay raises would be around three percent; under the draft proposal, however, they would not have been automatic and the salary boost would be subject to a performance review.
The revised numbers are slightly higher than what was presented in October. (For the full step-and-grade breakdown chart, click here, and for other proposed public safety salary ranges, click here.
After the ECBA luncheon, Boyce told East Cobb News said he is confident the new formula “is the issue that will restore confidence” to current public safety personnel, and will help with recruiting and retention.
He said that “we’ve engaged the officers,” and that “the key to me is, can we do this without a millage increase?”
For those critical of the draft proposal in October, the revision may pose similar concerns. East Cobb commissioner Bob Ott said then that the plan wouldn’t be step-and-grade if it needed annual budget approval.
Included in the recommendation in Tuesday’s budget item is language that would “authorize the County Manager to proceed working with county staff to develop a policy to review the Step & Grade Plan on an annual basis to determine effectiveness including an annual step as a top priority in future adopted budgets.”
Boyce, a Republican from East Cobb, is seeking re-election in November. His declared opposition includes South Cobb Democratic commissioner Lisa Cupid and East Cobb Republican Larry Savage, who ran for chairman in 2012 and 2016.
Two years ago, Boyce angered fiscal conservatives with a millage rate increase that didn’t address public safety staffing shortages and morale problems over pay and retention.
During last year’s budget deliberations, public safety staffers and advocates, as well as community leaders, implored commissioners to take measures to address what they termed a “crisis.”
One-time bonuses approved in May were promised as a “first step,” and when commissioners approved the fiscal year 2020 budget in July, it included a seven-percent raise for public safety employees.
Tuesday’s commission meeting is at 7 p.m. in the second floor board room of the Cobb government building, 100 Cherokee St., downtown Marietta. You can read through the full agenda by clicking here.
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