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Deputies to vote on 2-year contract that formalizes raises

By SHANNON COLAVECCHIO-VAN SICKLER
Published December 7, 2005

TAMPA - After meeting more than 20 times during the past 11 months, Hillsborough County sheriff's administrators and union leaders have negotiated the first contract for more than 2,000 patrol and detention deputies.

If ratified by deputies who are union members in a vote expected to take place in coming weeks, the two-year contract will overhaul the sheriff's salary system so that deputies who get satisfactory evaluations will be guaranteed annual raises based on years of service.

"This is a clear illustration that Sheriff David Gee supports his deputies," said Kevin Durkin, president of the West Central Florida Police Benevolent Association, the union that has represented Hillsborough deputies since they voted to unionize in 2004.

Now deputies' salary boosts come from an annual cost-of-living increase and a merit raise.

Under the contract, deputies would get a bump in salary after each year on the job, and they would top out after 11 years. Patrol deputies would earn a maximum of $59,274; detention deputies would get a maximum annual salary of $53,333.

The starting salary for patrol deputies would be $38,155. For detention deputies, it would be $36,036.

Under the so-called step system, deputies will get a raise of roughly 5 percent this year and next, though the exact amount will vary depending on their years of service, said Police Benevolent Association vice president Jim Diamond.

Deputies who have reached the 11-year threshold would get a 3 percent raise this year and next, according to the contract.

Tampa police and Hillsborough County firefighters' salaries are based on a similar step plan, Gee said.

Gee had originally proposed tying salary increases more closely to performance.

"I feel like it would have been a better system," Gee said Tuesday. "I think it would have recognized people who go above and beyond.

Diamond said the important thing is that the contract boosts deputies' salaries so that they are competitive with those of surrounding law enforcement agencies.

Gee said his annual budget of $315-million, with about $180-million set aside for salaries, limited the raises he could offer deputies.

In October, Gee withheld the annual cost-of-living raises for union members but gave increases to other staff members.

"I couldn't give raises if we were going to a new plan," he said. "So we've had deserving people out there waiting for this raise. That was the biggest thing personally bothering me. Some of these guys are young, they're trying to buy houses, and not having a raise is a hardship."

The contract also formalizes the disciplinary process. There would be a complaint review board composed of a deputy's peers, and a mediation panel would meet before final discipline is meted out, Diamond said.

"We've established a set of rules," Diamond said. "It should be easy for everyone from this point on."

Shannon Colavecchio-Van Sickler can be reached at 813 226-3373 or svansickler@sptimes.com

[Last modified December 7, 2005, 00:32:06]