WAGE HIKES INCLUDED IN 2024 BUDGET
The 2024 budget for Platte County has been approved by the county commission, and it features salary increases.
Among the salary actions, starting base play for entry level deputies in the Platte County Sheriff’s Department will be increased 10 percent, from $50,000 per year to $55,000 per year.
Also notable is that salaries for most other county employees will also get a significant hike, with a nine percent increase in pay for most positions.
In their budget message, county commissioners Scott Fricker, Dagmar Wood and Joe Vanover said the nine percent salary increase is “to help county employees deal with increases in inflation and past years where wage increases were less than CPI (consumer price index) numbers.”
Commissioners said that in the 2024 budget, the county has prepared for “potential future disasters by fully funding the county’s reserves in accordance with the Government Finance Officers Association recommendation to reserve three months of operating expenses.”
Commissioners said they have “full confidence that Platte County government is in sound financial shape for the coming year.”
Federal COVID relief funds are being used to upgrade and modernize county buildings and operations “and to mitigate the ongoing impacts of COVID,” the commissioners said in their budget message. “Many of the updates are designed to make county government more efficient and accessible to the public.”
Vanover, second district commissioner, in a separate statement focused on the county’s discussions of a possible major addition to the Platte County Jail.
A public safety committee has recommended to the county commission the proposal of an additional 312 new beds for the Platte County Jail in Downtown Platte City. Adding 312 new beds to the existing 152 beds would allow for 464 beds in at least 13 pods built in the same general arrangement as the current cells, day rooms and security hub, according to the committee’s final report.
The committee recommends that the Platte County Commission seek voter approval to build a “stacked” addition to the current jail on the northwest corner of the current county complex in Downtown Platte City. The area where the jail addition is recommended currently serves as a small parking lot for some county officials and county vehicles.
Vanover says the current jail is “full.”
“This budget includes reserves totaling nearly $7 million for future projects, which might include a major addition to the Platte County Detention Center. The total cost of building a major addition to the jail will be so big that the county would need to issue bonds,” Vanover says.
The jail bond issue would require voter approval at a yet-to-be scheduled election.
“The total cost of building a major addition to the jail will be so big that the county would need to issue bonds. But setting aside several million dollars now means we can borrow several million dollars less in the future,” Vanover added.