Raises for dispatchers discussed by council

PRESCOTT – There will be no cash bonus for members of the Prescott City Council.

Prescott Mayor Terry Oliver, at the council’s December meeting Monday night, when asked, said there would be no cash bonus for the council, but they would receive the gift of a Holly ham, purchased locally. He said the council has done a good job this year and is interested in the city’s growth. He added, the council was given a cash bonus once, but they all returned it.

The bulk of the meeting, though, was taken up with a discussion about whether the city needs to continue with its interlocal agreement with the county concerning dispatcher salaries at the Nevada County Sheriff’s Office.

The city and county have an agreement with the city paying the bulk of the salary for the five dispatchers, who currently make $10 an hour. The Nevada County Quorum Court recently voted to give the dispatchers a raise to $11 an hour to try and help keep them here once they get trained.

The amount involved would be $22,880 plus another $8,751.60 for payroll taxes. Overall, the amount would be $123,151.60. The city is currently paying $83,000 annually, and would be adding another $40,000 to this amount.

City Attorney Glenn Vasser said this will be the fourth time the agreement is amended. The agreement began in 1995 when the city still operated a jail. It was decided it wasn’t cost effective for the city to have a jail and an agreement was reached with the county for the city to pick up the tab for four dispatchers with the county housing city prisoners. Under terms of the agreement, either side can end it with six months notice. The deal was amended in 2009 to increase the dispatcher’s pay, making it $16,600 a year.

Should the city opt out of the agreement, it could wind up paying $30 per inmate per day to the county. Prescott Police Chief Joey Beavers said the city made 400 arrests in the third quarter this year, with the misdemeanor arrests being kept in jail one day, while felony inmates were in two or three days. The city currently pays for the meals and medical expenses of city prisoners.

Vasser said the county could choose to lay off a dispatcher if the city doesn’t agree to the pay raise, or pick up the extra expense itself.

Beavers reminded the council members dispatchers are the lifeline to law enforcement and other emergency services provided as they provide the communications between everyone that’s needed. He offered the council an alternative to simply going along with the raise and the city getting nothing in return. He suggested amending the agreement to read the city will pick up the raise, but, in return, the city would no longer have to pay for food and medical expenses for city inmates – a quid pro quo arrangement – if the county is amenable.

He pointed out the Prescott Police Department doesn’t have the budget to house someone sentenced to 90 or 180 days, paying $30 a day. “We stay busy,” he said of the PPD.

City Accountant Carl Dalrymple said if the council approved the raise, he’d have to find it in the budget, reminding the panel the budget for 2020 hasn’t been finalized or approved yet. He added it would stretch the budget and the city may have to use part of the sales tax for the salaries.

Councilman Jerry Hightower suggested the city and county meet and reach an agreement any future raises must be approved by the council before being passed by the quorum court.

Vasser said if the council doesn’t approve the raises, the county will have to come up with the money as the decisions of the court aren’t binding on the council. The issue was tabled until the January meeting.

Oliver said there are two vacancies on the Parks Commission. Satarra Williams was given another five-year term, while Barrett Yates was replaced by Ashley Grimesd.

The council also heard from the Martin Luther King Commission. DuShun Scarbrough, executive director, said they were at the meeting to promote the foundations of King’s teachings – racial harmony and helping the needy. He said the commission does Toys for Tots and a Back to School Bash for the needy. In fact, Rev. Patrick Gulley, a member of the commission, handed out toys to children at the meeting.

Scarbrough said the commission will be doing something in Prescott in Jan. 15, 2020 to use as a springboard for future activities. He said it’s important for the MLK Commission not to forget this part of the state.

Diana Shelton, program director, said the meeting will be at 3:30 p.m. on Jan. 15 at the Hamilton-Blakely Senior Center. Jan. 15, she told the panel, is King’s birthday, not the holiday, and the program will include a talk on King’s legacy. Other activities are planned elsewhere on Jan. 20, the national holiday for King.

Beavers introduced Justin Vershay as the newest member of the PPD, saying Vershay recently graduated from the academy and will be dong field training the next 12 weeks.