The Monroe County Sheriff’s pay raise proposal has been tabled indefinitely by the county council.
Sheriff Ruben Marté requested a $9,400 flat raise across the board for merit deputies, bringing the starting annual salary to $82,181. First year deputies are currently paid $75,151, which is the approved salary for 2025.
Officers of similar rank with the IU-Bloomington Police Department are the highest paid at $87,550 a year.
Read more: Monroe County Sheriff’s Office seeking competitive pay raise for deputies
Council president Jennifer Crossley said the county must address potential property tax impacts before committing to a pay raise.
“I also look forward to working with the sheriff’s office and their collective bargaining unit in regards to how we can make this happen,” Crossley said.
County financial consultant Greg Guerrettaz, president of Financial Solutions Group, warned the council last month to not commit to a salary increase due to potential financial strain on the county budget.
Read more: Consultant recommends waiting on pay boost for sheriff’s deputies
The county is also facing possible budget concerns due to the cost of construction for the new Monroe County Jail and the county’s recently discovered budget error.
Related: Monroe County budget error means $4 million cut
The jail cost was also a topic of discussion amongst councilmembers during Tuesday’s meeting. Councilmembers shared their interest in seeing the cost of the project tightened up, but also raised concerns about the future of the current justice complex.
“I want to know what the plan is for our current justice building,” said councilor Marty Hawk. “Do they plan to implode it? That’s an expensive proposition. Do they plan to sell it off to somebody else? Well, they’ll have to take into case how much it’ll cost to implode it if they plan to do something with it. Is there anything else we plan to do with it? I have not seen the long-range plan.”
Councilmembers also passed a resolution to suspend the work of the county’s Personnel Administration Committee (PAC), which typically considers new employment positions and updates job descriptions. Those movements can result in increased costs to the county.
“This gives us a pause for us to just really cool the jets here and save and be fiscally responsible as much as possible,” Crossley said.
The council did approve a change of language to the resolution that allows the committee to continue to meet to discuss procedural matters.
This article has been updated with additional information regarding the council's financial decisions.