Dougherty County set to use federal funds for ‘premium pay’ to address first responder vacancies

ALBANY — Dougherty County officials are looking to make an emergency response to a disaster in the making as first responders are departing its law enforcement and paramedic ranks at an alarming rate.

The Dougherty County Commission is scheduled to vote on Monday on a package of pay increases for police, sheriff’s office and Emergency Medical Services employees.

“What we found, basically, for first responders, is we weren’t competitive,” said Commissioner Russell Gray, a member of the commission’s Finance Committee that recommended approval of the pay package. “We put it up to a level that is not only competitive, but compels our good employees to stay and to attract employees who will be good for our organization.”

The crisis has reached the point that the sheriff’s office considered shipping some jail inmates to jails in other counties due to a shortage of detention officers at the Dougherty County Jail.

About one in four jailer positions is vacant, and several employees departed the sheriff’s office this week, said Sheriff’s Col. Jon Ostrander, who oversees jail operations.

Several paramedics also have given notice since commissioners learned there were 11 vacancies in the agency.

The sheriff’s office estimated that the cost of housing inmates at other facilities would cost $1.85 million for the current fiscal year that ends June 30, 2022.

The cost of boosting the pay of about 152 employees in emergency services and giving other employees a $1,000 lump-sum payment is estimated at $3.2 million for the budget year.

“It’s either pay our employees and keep our ranks filled and pay the right people for the right work, or pay other communities,” Gray said. “We’re trying to be competitive and keep employees happy. What they do is not easy.”

The county plans to use federal funds from the American Rescue Plan Act to fund pay increases for first responders for the first two years. It received $8 million this year and is in line for an equal amount next year.

After that time, a tax increase may be necessary to fund the extra amount in those salaries.

“At some point, we’re going to have this in the budget,” Gray said. “Hopefully, this buys us a little time. We plan to continue our long-term trend of being fiscally responsible.”

The federal legislation allows use of the funds for premium pay for public safety personnel, who are identified under essential infrastructure in the act, Dougherty County Administrator Michael McCoy said.

“The overall goal was to increase the salaries for those hard-to-fill positions,” he said. “We are using our funds to pay premium pay to our public safety employees.”

The lump-sum payments to other employees will come from county funds.

In addition, the commission earlier this year approved a pay study that will examine each position and come up with recommendations on employee compensation for each job description on the county roster.

When the sheriff’s office brought the severity of the crisis at the jail to his attention in late June, “we went into immediate action to develop this plan,” McCoy said. “These roles impact public safety and life. We’re trying to make our salaries competitive in the marketplace.”

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