The daily newspaper has an article that asserts that property tax cuts mean services cuts (aptly headlined “Tax cuts mean service cuts “).
Why? Shouldn’t the first step be to look at payroll? We can cut employees without cutting services. Don’t cut frontline personnel – firefighters, police, “on the street” deputies, etc. Look at administrators, middle managers, administrative assistants, etc. Look at combining the purchasing, personnel and accounting departments of the various constitutional offices.
When we did our salary analysis which used payroll data as of June, 2007, Escambia County had 2,582 employees and Total Salaries: $98,104,229. They were given raises in the 2007-08 budget. There are over 330 administrative aides, executive assistants and secretaries – total pay $10.4 million.
And look at the sheriff’s budget – how many of his buddies are we paying for?
ESCAMBIA COUNTY SHERIFF’S OFFICE BY RANK
1 Major $97,654
8 Captains $676,538
34 Lieutenants $2,358,860
52 Sergeants $2,795,676
33 Master Deputy Sheriffs $1,931,058
27 Deputy Sheriffs – First Class $1,100,498
29 Senior Deputy Sheriffs $1,383,065
154 Deputy Sheriffs $5,183,868
27 Deputy Sheriff Trainees $805,194
5 Law Enforcement Student Trainee $122,670
25 Senior Detention Deputies $1,157,245
Note: There are 275 Deputy Sheriffs, Deputy Sheriffs First Class, Senior Deputy Sheriffs, Master Deputy Sheriffs and Trainees.
There are 95 Majors, Captains, Lieutenants and Sergeants, which about 1 for every 3 deputies and trainees.
There is nearly 1 Captain or Lieutenant for every Sergeant.
This doesn’t include administrators:
Chief Deputy Sheriff: Larry Smith $127,515
Chief Financial Officer: Benjamin “Steve” Stevens $108,033
Director of Planning & Research: Dennis Williams $95,933
Director of Information Technology: Lloyd Magruder $85,636
Fleet Maintenance Division Manager: Louie Kemp $82,666
General Counsel: Darlene Dickey $81,112
Dir. Hmeland Sec. & Special Operations: Dean Anderson $75,000
Director of Administration: Willie Small $75,000