News

McDonald, Thompson defend price increase for Mills River deputy

By Bill Moss, Published: May 29, 2015

MILLS RIVER —Sheriff Charlie McDonald defended a new higher-priced contract the county has offered Mills River for law enforcement coverage, saying an analysis showed "we really aren't getting fair compensation" for the full-time deputy.

Mills River Town Council members on Thursday night expressed frustration, anger and bewilderment at a $38,000 increase from Henderson County for sheriff’s coverage, saying a proposed contract raised numerous questions and had been presented by County Manager Steve Wyatt as a “take it or leave it” offer.
“A lot of this fluff is the county trying to recoup some of their administrative cost,” Councilman Roger Snyder said.
The county Board of Commissioners on May 20 endorsed an hourly rate for what it called “enhanced” law enforcement coverage — that is, the amount it would charge a town for sheriff’s coverage beyond the coverage that any area of the county receives. The county calculated the hourly rate for Mills River at $52.47, or $109,137 a year, $37,637 more than the town pays now.

Town council members said Wyatt and the Board of Commissioners had padded the price with indirect costs that the sheriff had never charged before, had cut the sheriff out of negotiations and had shut off any avenue for further talks.

“Sounds to me like the county is leaving sheriff out of it and they’re trying to get more money for their budget,” Mayor Larry Freeman said.
The Town Council came to no decision, despite a lengthy discussion on the subject among board members, the town’s attorney, Sharon Alexander; and Town Manager Jeff Wells. Freeman had directed Wells to find out from Wyatt whether the terms were negotiable.
Wyatt's answer was that “basically that it was a take it or leave it deal, was the bottom line,” Wells said.

McDonald said he assumed when he took office in early 2012 "a precedent had been established and we assumed the numbers were fair and good." When the Board of Commissioners asked his department to calculate the actual cost of paying and outfitting a deputy and maintaining a vehicle and supplying equipment, McDonald said he worked with his own administration and with the county finance office.

"When we really did look at our figures, we found out Mills River has been getting a great deal," he said.
Town board members said the average cost of salary and benefits that the county used to set the rate, $72,000, was higher than the rate of the Mills River deputy. The cost breakdown also included a few pieces of equipment that the Mills River deputy doesn’t have, council members said.
“We’ve been down this road before,” said Councilman Shanon Gonce, who has negotiated the sheriff's contract for the past several years. “They pawn it off and pawn it off, and then they get mad and then they sit down and talk. If they need this money I wish they could do it in a more sensible way than they are.”
Alexander told the board she would speak with County Attorney Russ Burrell about the contract.
“The letter that you received from Steve Wyatt raises so many questions, which you have identified,” he said. “Who’s the contract going to be with? I would want to have a conversation with the sheriff. Who are you going to pay? You need to have everything very clear.”

Wyatt and the commissioners said when they authorized the new price that adding up the salary, benefits and equipment costs was the fairest way to calculate the cost. The county also offered a per deputy cost to Flat Rock. The Village Council had not taken up the offer yet.

"My understanding is that the boys on the inside crunching the figures have gotten as best as they possibly can from what they say is the actual cost," Board of Commissioners Chairman Tommy Thompson said. "They came up with the figure as to what it cost to put a man out there."

As for the Town Board's complaint that the price is non-negotiable, "I don't believe the words take it or leave it were used by this board of anyone else in regards to this," Thompson said. "We took the information given to us and with that the board voted 5-0 that if you want our services this is what you need to pay. If they want to negotiate it's up to them to come back to us and it's up to the board whether they want to revisit this."

Wells prepared a revised budget that would fund the higher priced contract through expense cuts. Two other options, he said, would be to take the $38,000 out of the town's fund balance or raise the town tax rate by a third of a cent. The council agreed to go with the expense-cut option for purposes of a June 11 public hearing on the budget.
In the past, council members said, the town has negotiated with the sheriff and signed a contract with his department. Now, they said, Wyatt and the commissioners have hijacked the process.
“It’s always been with the sheriff’s department," Freeman said of the contract negotiation. "We were pretty much told this afternoon to leave the sheriff alone. Don’t bother him anymore.”

McDonald said he's not cut anyone out.

"I'll meet with anybody," he said, "but the information is going to be pretty much what they got." He defended the commissioners' actions in ordering a close look at the cost. "When it comes to appropriating tax dollars, they have every right to be involved because they're the ones answering to the taxpayers. I think the county commissoners are well within their rights to look at expenditures and make sure they're being treated fairly."