Law enforcement officers will get the largest share of pay raises included in Georgetown County’s new budget. They are at the top of a three-tiered compensation plan that also raises pay for firefighters and emergency medial workers as well as general government employees.
The budget for the fiscal year that starts July 1 does not address Sheriff Carter Weaver’s request for eight additional patrol deputies.
“It is a good first step by council in their attempt to make an investment in public safety,” Weaver said, but he will continue to make his case for additional staff. “The pay part is promising, but it is only a first step because you have to compare it to the agencies and counties surrounding us.”
Weaver told the council at a budget workshop last month that he was short by an entire shift of 911 dispatchers, by 20 percent at the jail and by 16 percent in law enforcement. Staff was working overtime to maintain service, he said.
Weaver asked for a 10 percent pay increase to help compete with agencies in Horry County. He said that the increase should be for all public safety workers, not just those in his department.
As an elected official, Weaver has the ability to raise issues that hired department heads might not want to talk about in public.
“I take that part of my job just as seriously,” he said. “I will continue to do that. The citizens are going to hear it.”
Under the $2.3 million compensation package approved by County Council in the second reading of the budget...
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