Salary increases make Williamson County corrections officers highest paid in region
Williamson County commissioners have approved salary increases that make the county's beginning corrections officers the highest paid in the region, officials said.
The changes increased the beginning salary for officers who work in the Williamson County Jail from $44,260 annually to $51,000, according to county salary charts.
"This puts us ahead of three other counties," said Rebecca Clemons, the senior director of human resources for the county. The beginning annual pay for a corrections officer in Travis County is $50,000 and in Hays County it is $50,013, she said. In Burnet County, the beginning annual pay is $44,000, Clemons said.
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The county has 62 vacancies for corrections officers, Sheriff Mike Gleason told the commissioners before they approved the salary increases on Tuesday at their regular meeting.
"I lost three correctional officers over the weekend to Leander and Cedar Park. … That's how my weekend goes every weekend now," he said. He said the officers left for higher pay as police officers in those cities.
The pay increases happened as a result of a salary study the county did comparing Williamson County salaries to other salaries in the region, officials said. They also include pay hikes for law enforcement officers in the sheriff's office as well as constables and investigators in the county and district attorney's offices.
More:Williamson commissioners approve 'unprecedented' mid-year raise for employees
The annual salary for a beginning deputy constable or sheriff's deputy increased from $61,126 to $64,552 under the changes approved by the commissioners, according to county pay charts. The increase in salaries will take effect on Feb. 3.
"Underpaid for over a decade, the Williamson County Deputies and Correction Officers are overjoyed by the news,'" the Williamson County Deputies Association said in a news release. "When Sheriff Gleason took office, he made competitive compensation a top priority and has fulfilled his campaign promise to the Williamson County residents."
The increases will cost the county around $3.6 million during this budget year that ends in October, according to county figures.
The county will pay for it with $1,154,446 the Commissioners Court already has allocated for mid-year law enforcement and corrections salary increases. It will also use a $2,091,772 surplus created by vacancies in law enforcement and corrections, and $100,000 no longer needed to implement other salary study changes, Clemons said. The remaining money needed, $280,000, will come from the county's cash reserves, she said.
"When other governmental entities in our region worked to defund the police, I made a commitment to law enforcement that I would not do that in Williamson County," said County Judge Bill Gravell. "We will be using a little funding from our cash reserves, but I can’t think of a better capital investment than to invest in our law enforcement."
During the next budget year that starts in October, the annual salary increases are estimated to cost $5.5 million, said Clemons. The commissioners already have approved $1,154,446 for the increases next year, she said, so the county will have to set aside an extra $4,375,270 in its budget to pay for them.
This article originally appeared on Austin American-Statesman: Williamson County corrections officers are highest paid in area
