Sedgwick County boosted pay for sheriff’s office employees Wednesday in an escalating law enforcement wage war with the city of Wichita. The county will transfer approximately $4.5 million from reserves to cover 8.7% increases for all sheriff’s employees, including Sheriff Jeff Easter, who presented the funding request to commissioners Wednesday. That’s on top of the 2% increase that went into effect at the beginning of the year. The new raise comes a month after the Wichita City Council voted to give police employees 13.27% raises and one-time $5,000 bonuses. “If people don’t believe that we’re going to lose people to Wichita, they’ve got their head in the sand, because they’ll go where the money is,” Commissioner David Dennis said before the unanimous commission vote. With the Wichita Police Department increases, starting officer pay is now $29.75, compared to $23.97 at the beginning of 2024 for new sheriff’s deputies. The pay bumps approved Wednesday get the county’s starting pay to $26.02. “It is threatening to see this wage war continue,” Commissioner Jim Howell said. “I don’t know how it’s going to stop. I have a concern that it’s just going to continue ping-ponging back and forth because as soon as we do this, they’ll use our increase as a rationale for another increase across the street.” The Wichita police union is entering another round of negotiations with the city in 2024.
Source: Local News | Wichita Eagle
