County workers will get 4% pay raise this year

June 26, 2024 by Ben Pounds

Anderson County employees will get a 4% pay raise with the budget for the new fiscal year beginning July 1.

That budget passed unanimously on Monday, June 17, and included no tax increases.

“A zero-tax increase budget with employee raises and enhancing EMS (Emergency Medical Services) services is a big win for Anderson County,” commission chairman and budget committee member Tyler Mayes told The Courier News. He said county employees got a 7% raise across the board last year.

Colt Jennings, a deputy with the Anderson County Sheriff’s Office, said the pay increase is not enough.

However, during the meeting and afterward, several commissioners took issue with Jennings’ comments and motivation for speaking.

Jennings addressed the commission wearing a black T-shirt reading “Jennings Sheriff.”

He showed off a white board with his own calculations. He said the inflation rate was 3.3% and an insurance cost increase of 2.7% for his salary meant that the 4% raise would not help.

“When you subtract all this you’re at negative 2%,” he said.

Later, right before passing the budget, Budget Committee member and Commissioner Sabra Beauchamp said no one other than Jennings had criticized the budget or raises.

“Math is a wonderful thing if you know how to use it,” she said, disputing Jennings’ calculations.

Similarly, Mayes responded by email to The Courier News disputing Jennings’ numbers as “simply not true.”

“I found his statement to be politically motivated and very misleading,” Mayes said.

He and fellow commissioner and Budget Committee member Aaron Wells accused Jennings of wanting to help his own campaign, if he later does decide to run for sheriff.

“That was nothing more than a half-hearted attempt at political grandstanding, and it was a pathetic attempt to boot,” Wells said.

“Last year, we proudly passed the Sheriff’s Department salary plan, which included a raise, step raises, and longevity pay,” Mayes said. 

“Ironically, Deputy Jennings received a 12.97% raise last year and 4% this year. 

“He stated he would lose money this year because of the rise in insurance costs. It’s simply not true. When you look at this year alone, with the raise in salary and insurance costs, he still will add nearly $1,000 annually to his salary,” Mayes said.

“For the last two years, he has had a net gain of approximately $7,700 annually,” he said.