GOLDEN — A reduced county pension contribution coupled with lower-than- market pay has Jefferson County sheriff’s employees heading for the door.
The Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office is on track this year to lose 65 of its more than 700 employees — most of them sworn officers. Many will go to departments in Denver, Aurora, Commerce City and Adams County.
“It’s a competitive market right now,” said Jefferson County Sheriff Ted Mink.
Mink recently told county commissioners: “It will be pretty hard to maintain our level of service at some point.”
Mink and his commanders blame a retirement program that was behind other agencies’ offerings. In January, it lost more ground when the county reduced its match for the defined contribution plan — which works as a 401(k) plan — from 10 percent to 8 percent.
Arvada, Boulder, Commerce City, Littleton and Westminster all contribute 10 percent; Thornton, 9 percent; Aurora, 10.5 percent; and Golden, 13 percent.
Jefferson County not only hasn’t kept up, “They’re going in the wrong direction,” said Don Christensen, executive director of County Sheriffs of Colorado.
Jefferson County deputy pay is falling behind, the command staff says. A sheriff’s survey of 15 metro-area law enforcement agencies in January found the county had slipped.
A Jefferson County deputy on the job for a year earns $48,000 while a Denver officer with the same experience earns $51,576. The gap widens with more years of service.
“We’ve got the data and we’re behind and we’re losing people,” said division chief Dave Walcher.
The deputies lured away represent years of training and service, and thousands of dollars of investment.
And, Walcher said, other agencies go after the good ones like Rob Greaser.
“This guy did everything. This guy is distinguished. He was a great employee,” Walcher said.
Greaser earned 21 commendations, including two medals for valor, in 12 years. He was a SWAT and Special Operations Response member, and a firearms and field training instructor.
On Oct. 1, he jumped to the Denver Police Department, where a retired officer receives 70 percent of final salary monthly with yearly increases under a defined benefit or pension-style plan. Jefferson County distributes 42 percent of salary in a lump sum under a 401(k)-style defined contribution plan.
“My decision to leave this department was sealed the day it was announced that 2 percent of our retirement would be cut and that (the cost of) our medical benefits would substantially increase,” Greaser said.
Officer “poaching” has been a problem for counties for “many, many years,” Christensen said, because a county philosophy is to compensate all employees the same. “But the competitiveness in law enforcement is not the same. I don’t want this taken the wrong way, but a deputy is not the same as someone in road and bridge or a clerk.”
City police agencies can pay more because they have a higher tax base, said Capt. Craig Coleman, recruiter for the Adams County Sheriff’s Office.
Counties also are required to run jails, which “take up a tremendous part” of the budget, Coleman said.
To be competitive, Coleman said Adams County does a yearly market survey and offers uniformed officers higher pay hikes than support personnel.
The Jefferson County commanders told county commissioners the answer to the deputy drain is to restore the 2 percent pension match.
“That would make the biggest statement and have the greatest impact immediately,” Undersheriff Ray Fleer said.
Mink supports a separate retirement system for sworn officers. Cost: $740,000 a year.
The three county commissioners, who set the budget, are empathetic but realistic.
“I don’t know what the answer is,” said commission chairwoman Kathy Hartman. “The only way we could do that is to make some cuts somewhere else,” or to have Mink look again at his budget.
Hartman said she’s “not happy” about the message being sent to deputies that they’re not valued.
Commissioner Kevin McCasky said he’s confident “our budget folks and the Sheriff’s Office can work something out.”
Commissioner Jim Congrove said there’s enough money to boost deputy pensions.
“There was no discussion in depth before the 2 percent contribution cut was made,” Congrove said. “There is a way to find that money.”
Jefferson County needs to bite the bullet on retirement, said Mike Felsoci, who left the county in 2005 as a homicide investigator and SWAT point man to ride patrol for the Denver Police Department.
“You go through all these years of giving 100 percent for strangers and the community,” Felsoci said, “and all you’re looking for is being taken care of when you’re done.”
Ann Schrader: 303-278-3217 or aschrader@denverpost.com
