ANDERSON - The threat that sheriff's deputies might not get paid their wages was averted Tuesday night when the Madison County Council revised its previous orders.
Sheriff's deputies, jail officers and county dispatchers were at risk for not being paid on Dec. 19 for failing to comply with a county mandate that they take four days of unpaid time off.
Hoping to cut $280,000 from the budget by the end of 2009, the County Council mandated in a recent meeting that all county employees paid from the general fund take a four-day furlough.
Madison County Sheriff Ron Richardson immediately took issue with the order and spoke with council members after the meeting, stressing the threat to officer safety.
Since police patrols and jail standards require a minimum number of officers, Richardson warned that overtime would be used to make up for the absence of furloughed officers.
He decided to disobey the order with the blessing of council President Bill Savage and Councilman Gary Gustin.
County Commissioner Paul Wilson learned of this action and threatened that commissioners would not sign payroll for the departments that didn't comply with the furloughs.
The three-member Board of County commissioners signs off on all county payrolls.
The only way to reverse Wilson's decision, he said, was for the County Council to amend its order.
They did so during a special meeting on Tuesday after Richardson outlined the trouble the furloughs would cause and offered a solution.
At the jail, he said, the county was looking at $16,000 in savings from furloughs, but they would cost more than $11,000 in overtime pay, so the county would only save roughly $4,000, he said.
Dispatch would be a similar story, he said.
The $5,000 or so gained by furloughs would cause $5,000 in overtime, making for a $431 savings to the county, he explained.
After discussing the issue, council members voted unanimously to exclude the sheriff's department, jail and dispatch employees from the furlough order.
The Madison County Correctional Complex was ordered to take two days off, instead of four.
All other county employees will still be forced to take unpaid time off by Dec. 19, the end of the last pay period of the year