Though he decided to roll back property taxes for his department, St. Charles Parish Sheriff Greg Champagne can still afford to keep the raises and benefits that have led to recent employee retention.
That retention was due in large part to the increased mills of property tax that the sheriff’s department was allowed to levy in recent years. With the extra income, Champagne was able to increase salaries while adding extra benefits. That combination proved to be enough for most of the department’s employees, who have stayed on the force despite the allure of high-paying industry jobs.
“During Katrina, we lost 15 people who just quit on us during that time, and before Katrina, we had lost a hundred people because of low salaries,” Champagne said. “Since we implemented the millage raise, I’ve been able to implement a couple of raises along with benefits, such as offering an extra $100 a month to those who have a college degree. We are losing a lot less people now.”
The most recent wage increase was in February, when Champagne passed an eight percent raise. In July, he added another five percent to that total. Along with the $100 a month given to those with college degrees, the department also offers $50 a month to those with associate degrees.
“After 911, private industry became very security concious and they were looking towards the police force to fill those security jobs,” Champagne said. “We were having difficulty competiting with the amount of money they could offer so I instituted these raises and added benefits.”
Since then, starting pay for a deputy has jumped from around 28,000 to around 35,000.
After a recent legislative audit reset the millage rate to 21.22 mills, Champagne had to decide whether to accept the new rate, or increase it to the 21.41 mills of property tax his department levied last year. In the end, he accepted the lower rate, which set his department apart from the Parish Council and the School Board, who both recently chose not to reduce taxes.
“Our issue has not been extra money,” Champagne said. “The reason I have been implementing all these raises is to hire more people. We are doing a lot better since we have gotten the raises and I feel like we are ahead of the ball.”
As of now, a fully staffed shift of officers includes a lieutenant, a sergeant, a corporal on each side of the river, and nine deputies. Champagne says that is the standard unless someone is on vacation or out sick. The department would never work with less than 13 people on a shift and has a lot more members out on the streets during the day, including patrol officers, detectives in unmarked units, and officers in the traffic division.
While last year’s millage increase allowed Champagne to hire more officers and relieve the burden on existing officers, he says there is always more room for those looking to help keep the parish streets safe.
“We worked hard to get the previous millage passed because we needed personnel or we were going to be shorthanded out there,” he said. “I still would like to hire another 15 or 20 deputies and expand the beats. Yes, we need additional deputies, every law enforcement agency that I know of would like to hire more, but we do not work shorthanded.”
Be the first to comment