Several years of hard feelings and animosity between the Panola County Sheriff’s Office and the Board of Supervisors over the matter of deputy pay appear to have been soothed and ostensibly solved after four intense budget meetings between board members and county law enforcement officers.

The fourth of those meetings happened on Monday at the Batesville Courthouse where Cole Flint and Chad Weaver met with more than a dozen members of the Sheriff’s Office, who was represented by administrators, supervisors, and road patrol officers.

In that meeting, it was decided that 24 members of the department who currently earn less than $45,000 would be raised to that benchmark. Most of those are deputies with a salary of $41,080. To bring those employees to the benchmark, their increase will be $3,920.

Additionally, another 15 (approximate) employees who have higher salaries will each receive a $3,920 across the board raise. More importantly, the negotiations included an agreement that beginning next year the supervisors would budget for raises based on percentages and tenure – a system that has not been followed in recent years and created the salary shortfalls.

Both Sheriff Shane Phelps and the board representatives agreed that the percentage and merit system would be more fair and efficient for future budgets.

Phelps had originally proposed a $10,000 raise across the board for 40 employees that would cover all employees except the jail staff.

The supervisors countered with a proposal of $5,500 for the (approximate) 14 road patrolmen and a small pool of money that Phelps could use, at his discretion, to give other raises in the department.

Phelps rejected that plan, saying he desperately wanted to increase deputy pay, but would not do so at the expense of other employees including investigators, supervisors, and clerical staff.

The supervisors were adamant that taxes would not be raised for the coming budget year, and asked Phelps and Chief Deputy Reginald Lantern to work with County Administrator Sarah Russo to find potential budget savings.

By combining some divisions in the department and streamlining some services, the county was able to find sufficient funds to cover the costs of the new raises, and the expense of payroll taxes, retirement, and other benefits that accompany salary increases.

Phelps said while he wanted more pay for everyone, he understood the need for base pay to be increased – at least to be within a few hundred dollars of what first year Batesville Police Department officers are paid.

Phelps and all involved acknowledged that Panola, for the time being, will not be able to match the salaries offered in Lafayette, DeSoto,and Tate Counties, but were satisfied with the new base pay as a retention tool.

Additionally, Flint suggested that upfront purchasing of five new police vehicles will potentially save thousands in current repairs to cars with more than 200,000 miles, and provide for another reserve for future raises.