Jul. 8—The Cumberland County Emergency 911 District Board of Directors approved a new salary schedule management says will make the agency better able to recruit and retain dispatchers.
"This payroll structure will put us ahead of Roane County," Terry Williams, director of operations, told the board during its June 22 meeting. "It will put us at the 75th percentile in Tennessee and 90th percentile among our competition and is competitive with businesses in Cumberland County."
But the pay increase — from just under $14 an hour to $19.50 an hour starting pay — struck some board members as too much, too fast.
"That's a substantial increase at one time," said Gary Adams, board member.
Tom Isham, board member, agreed, suggesting a $2-an-hour increase this year.
"That's a fair price to the employee and the people who pay our taxes," Isham said.
Everett Bolin, chairman of the board, said, "We're trying to fix something that's been going on a long time."
Williams did not present the plan in the meeting. Instead, he said he met with most of the directors personally prior to the meeting. He said members of the E-911 staff had not seen the proposal because he didn't "want to get hopes up."
The total cost of the pay increase would be about $130,000, but would not require additional funding, Williams said.
Revenue includes $877,776 in 911 surcharges on phone bills and $1.1 million paid by the city of Crossville and Cumberland County for operation of the dispatch center, with total revenue of $2.3 million
The staff includes Eric Ritzman, executive director; Williams; two individuals in E-911 addressing; four shift supervisors; two floor supervisors; and nine dispatchers and TAC operators. One trainee has been hired and is completing training and another is set to start in July, leaving two vacancies in the department.
Williams said many area employers have increased pay in the past year. Many of those jobs offer higher starting salaries but do not come with the stress experienced by dispatchers.
"We want the highest caliber of employee," Williams said.
The agency has a lot of tenure among its staff, with 10 employees having more than the state's five-year average tenure in emergency communications.
"We're lucky to have a lot of loyalty," Williams said. "When people start with us, they realize its for them or realize its not, and we lose them really quick."
They've struggled to hire in recent months. Out of several applications submitted, only four came to interview.
Dispatchers train to work with 11 different agencies. During emergencies, such as the tornado at Pleasant Hill or the search for a downed plane, when they issue a call for all hands on deck, Williams said everyone available returned to handle communications.
"This is not a job you can pull someone off the street to do," Williams said. "We cannot afford to be so far behind."
He said neighboring Roane County pays their new dispatchers more than the district currently pays a 25-year employee.
"That's not acceptable," Williams said.
Dr. Mark Fox, board member, said it is difficult to compare the dispatch staff to other positions.
"It's a standalone, non-comparable group that we count on," Fox said. "I don't want to compare them to someone off the street to work for a local company."
Nathan Brock, board member, said the budget shows the cost of paying dispatchers will exceed the revenue collected from the city and county.
"The group may be happy with that — frankly it's been a few years ago that the 911 board was contributing one-third of the cost back to the county," Brock said. "I'm not saying that's necessarily a bad thing ... but I do think that it should be recognized that 911 dollars are subsidizing operations."
Ritzman said there is money available to pay the additional amount, which has usually rolled over into the reserve fund at the end of the year.
Isham said, "I don't agree that just because you've got the money, you've got to spend it."
Dr. Kim Peaslee, board member, said, "It's not going to cost us anything, and it's going to pay people better to keep them?"
Dispatcher Penny Thrall encouraged the directors to consider the employees who have been working there for many years — some more than 20 years.
"These people that are staying need to be recognized for what they do and encouraged to stay," she said.
Isham said money isn't always what makes an employee say.
Thrall said, "I have a team, and I am 100% loyal to my in-charge ... my fear is that if one of those people leave the team, it's not going to be as good."
Peaslee said she had lost a secretary a few years ago who was unhappy with the salary — something Peaslee said she was unaware of. When she hired a new secretary, she made sure to offer what that person needed.
"If you want a decent employee, you're going to have to pay them decent," she said.
Trey Kerley, board member, asked about starting pay for deputies in the county. Under a proposal that has been tentatively approved by the county budget committee, deputies would be paid $34,372 to start, increasing to $38,669 after training — equivalent to about $18.59 per hour for someone who works 40 hours a week.
"Shame on our county commission," Kerley said. "They ought to pay more than that."
Isham also questioned salary increases for Ritzman and Williams. Ritzman, currently making $65,000 a year, increases to $73,000 under the plan while Williams increases from $47,500 to $60,000.
Ritzman said his salary has remained steady since being hired to take care of equipment and technology and before becoming the executive director in charge of dispatch, addressing and technology. A raise was discussed when he assumed those duties, but was never implemented, he said.
The pay was less than other departments with similar operations, Williams said, though other agencies had multiple people handling those duties.
Ritzman said Williams had been training and preparing for various emergency communications management certifications.
Isham moved to approve a $2 per hour raise in wages, with a 3% increase for administration personnel. Brock supported the motion for discussion.
Sonya Rimmer, board member, questioned why the board had asked for a wage study if they were not prepared to consider the results.
Williams compared pay rates with agencies that were similar to Cumberland County in terms of population served, call volume, and staffing, including nearby Roane County, which is slightly smaller than Cumberland County, and Robertson County, which serves more people but is similarly staff and operated. The budget committee of the E-911 board asked for plans that would put the agency at the 50th and 75th percentile in the state.
"Nobody seems to want to follow it," she said. "What was the point of the wage study?"
Dave Hassler, board member, said he needed to see the documentation so that he could make a more informed decision.
"I'd like to see everywhere you check and let me compare it," Hassler said.
The motion failed 3-6, with Brock, Isham and Adams in favor. Voting against were Kerley, Hassler, Peaslee, Rimmer, Bolin and Fox.
Next, Brock moved to move on to the proposed budget for the E-911 District and defer the compensation plan to the August meeting of the board, supported by Hassler.
That motion failed 2-7, with Hassler and Isham in favor and Kerley, Brock, Peaslee, Fox, Adams, Bolin and Rimmer opposed.
Peaslee moved to approve the pay plan as presented, supported by Fox. The motion was approved 5-4, with Kerley, Rimmer, Bolin, Fox and Peaslee in favor. Voting against were Brock, Isham, Adams and Hassler, who said he needed more information.
Thrall thanked the board following the vote.
With the compensation plan finalized, the board approved the budget as presented, with plans to amend it when final compensation figures are available. Fox moved to approve, supported by Kerley. The motion passed 6-3, with Kerley, Hassler, Peaslee, Fox, Rimmer and Bolin in favor and Brock, Isham and Adams opposed.
In addition to operations expenses, the budget includes about $50,000 for the first phase of a radio encryption project. This would upgrade the dispatch consoles to use encrypted channels to communicate with agencies. A second phase would also be about $50,000 to replace older radios that cannot be encrypted.
Ritzman said agencies with new digital phase 2 radios can reprogram the radios for encryption. Newly purchased radios would be programmed at the time of purchase.
The move would give agencies the ability to use an encrypted channel for some communications, but there would still be open channels. Currently, only the SWAT team has a protected channel, and dispatch is unable to talk with responders on that channel.
The budget also includes about $15,000 to retrofit a donated bus for use as a mobile command center and $9,000 for interconnected Vibe boards for use in emergency command centers.
Heather Mullinix is editor of the Crossville Chronicle. She covers schools and education in Cumberland County. She may be reached at hmullinix@crossville-chronicle.com.
