By Rod Rose
The Lebanon Reporter
LEBANON, Ind. — Corrections officers at the Boone County Jail will receive a raise, bringing their base pay to the same level as dispatchers.
Sheriff Mike Nielsen told the Boone County Council Tuesday that the change will not require an increase in the sheriff’s office budget. Instead, he will use money set aside for discretionary merit-based raises to equalize the salaries, at a base rate of $38,000 per year.
“Jail staffers now make $1,000 per year less than dispatchers, Nielsen said, and he has no good answer to their questions why that discrepancy exists. “How that offset occurred, I have no idea,” Nielsen told the county council.
Money for the raises comes from funds set aside during last year’s budget hearings, Nielsen said. He had asked the council to support funding a 1.5 percent discretionary raise. The money was not allotted in the 2015 budget, but held aside for consideration this year. There is no change in the salary ordinance, Nielsen said. “It’s just who is getting paid in that line.”
The total budgeted for the salaries — $750,266 — for 2015 will not change, Nielsen said. “It’s just who is getting paid what in that line,” Nielsen said. The council approved the request, 6-0.
“He is documenting what he is doing,” Council President Steve Jacob said of Nielsen’s request. While a future sheriff could suggest that jail personnel should be paid $1,000 or $10,000 more, “I’m convinced personally that will not happen under this administration,” Jacob said.