June 12, 2019  |  09:54 am

Thanks to conservative spending and careful planning, St. Tammany Parish Sheriff Randy Smith will be able to provide a cost of living and merit raise for all employees again this coming fiscal year. 

Sheriff Smith is in the final phases of preparing the agency’s budget for fiscal year 2020, which will begin on July 1, 2019. The proposed 2020 fiscal budget includes a 3.75% pay increase for employees. This includes a 1.25% cost of living and a 2.5% merit raise. All full-time employees employed a minimum of six months are eligible to receive this raise.

Part-time school crossing guards will also receive a 50 cent per hour raise; increasing their pay from $12.50 per hour to $13 per hour.

This is the second year in a row, St. Tammany Parish Sheriff Randy Smith has been able to provide employees with a cost of living raise. This is thanks to the fiscally responsible decisions the sheriff has made since he took office in 2016 to reduce wasteful spending agency-wide.

While cutting non-essential expenses, Sheriff Smith has taken great care in preserving the enforcement aspect of the organization and continues to ensure public safety is a top priority.  He and his staff continue to evaluate all capital and operating requests to find areas where expenses can be reduced.

“I’m extremely proud of the dedicated and hard-working men and women who make up this agency. I am pleased to be able to reward that hard work with a well-deserved pay increase for our employees.” Sheriff Smith said. “Our employees are our greatest asset. Since I have taken office, the agency as a whole has learned to do more with less.”