Morgan County Sheriff's Office asks for pay increase for officers, jail personnel

Members of the Morgan County council took more than nine hours Monday, Aug. 22, to review the 2023 budget.

According to the state, the county is allowed a 5% increase next year in new money.

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The council has said county employees are the most valuable asset it has and they want to give them a pay increase for next year.

Some members of the council have said they would like to give employees a 4% increase but that is dependent on other factors.

Sheriff and jail budget

Three years ago, at the request of the sheriff and jail commander, the council established a pay matrix for some employees in the departments. The matrix set out in writing what those employees would earn for the next 20 years. It contained the years of service money, which had been called longevity pay, and built in pay raises.

New deputies and correction officers would know what their pay was going to be for the next 20 years. There was a provision built into the matrix that allowed, if needed, cost of living adjustments.

At the time of its creation, the sheriff and jail commander said they hoped the matrix would help retain employees.

Now, according to Morgan County Sheriff Rich Myers and jail commander David Rogers, other nearby countries have created matrixes and are paying more than Morgan County.

The two asked the council to consider increasing the amounts in the county's matrix.

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Some council members said while they understood the problem, they were limited to the amount of a raise they could give, and they would discuss pay increases later this week.

The council was able to use funds from other accounts to pay for some expenses in both departments.

Morgan County EMS

The county's ambulance service was also the subject of much discussion.

At this time, the county is operating six Advanced Life Support ambulances. Those ambulances are staffed with at least one paramedic who can give drugs and perform advanced medical procedures on patients.

A Basic Life Support ambulance normally carries one or two emergency medical technicians. They do routine transports and do minor medical procedures, and do not administer drugs.

The agency is being called to do transports. Some places are not wanting to wait for a transport ambulance but call 911 and report the person is sick and needs to go to a medical facility. One of the county's ALS ambulances, along with the fire department, then responds to the call.

The ambulance then normally transports the patient.

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Commissioner Bryan Collier, who is also a Martinsville Firefighter/EMT, said this is a waste of a valuable resource and ties up an ALS ambulance for a BLS run.

Sometimes the patient has to go to an out of county medical facility.

Collier said there are no BLS transporting ambulances stationed in the county.

Collier's solution is for the county to provide funding for the service to staff an ambulance that would be used only for BLS transports.

At this time, the agency has three older ambulances that are out of service. He said one ambulance could be staffed to do transports.

Collier said if there is an emergency, the Emergency Duty Officer who is on duty and is a paramedic, can jump on the truck and make it an ALS run.

After much discussion, the council approved funding the ambulance for a year to see how it works out.

As for funding, according to Morgan County Auditor Dan Bastin, the service has collected around $1.9 million dollars this year.

The problem, he noted, is that while the agency is making runs, the return pay is very low.

According to the agency's fee scale, it charges $25 per mile.

A BLS run is $1,150, while an ALS Level 1 run is $1,450 while an ALS Level 2 rund is $1,650.

Bastin said Medicare pays $8.02 per mile, BLS runs are $370.78,

ALS Level 1 runs are $440.31 and ALS Level 2 runs are $637.27.

Medicaid pays $3.31 per mile for BLS transports, $4.31 per mile for ALS transports.

For BLS runs, the pay is $110.84 and ALS runs, both 1 and 2, are $160.84.

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Another problem hitting the agency is the cost to house ambulances in area firehouses. The agency pays a fee to the departments to help offset the cost of the crew's being present at all time.

The agency has received notice from one department that in 2023, the fee will be raised due to the increase in the cost of utilities.

The agency was also notified that Bargersville, which provides fire and EMS coverage for Harrison Township, will be wanting more money for that coverage next year.

Finally, the high cost of fuel and medical supplies has hit the agency's budget hard.

While the agency still has operating funds available, it will have to transfer funds for fuel and medical supplies.

Ambulance supplies were budgeted for the year at around $75,000. So far, the department has spent more than $90,000.

Fuel for the year was budgeted at $58,000, but the department has spent more than $55,000 and have four months left in the year.

The council noted it would spend some of the Tuesday, Aug. 23 meeting to find out what is needed to help the agency balance its books.

Dispatch funding

Bastin said the county will have to find around $600,000 to replace the funding it will lose next year after the city of Martinsville stops paying for workers at the county dispatch center.

Years ago, the State of Indiana mandated countys to combine their public safety dispatch centers .

At most, a county could have two centers, but it was preferred they only have one.

Morgan County had three centers — one for the county, one for Martinsville and another for Mooresville. The county combined its center with Martinsville while Mooresville declined to join and kept its own center.

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By agreement, the city paid the county for the cost of the city dispatchers who transferred to the county.

The agreement allowed the city to withdraw and stop paying for the dispatchers.

Last year, the city decided to terminate the agreement at the end of 2022.

This article originally appeared on The Reporter Times: Morgan County Sheriff Rich Myers asks for pay increase for officers