Jill Schramm/MDN Sheriff Robert Roed, left, and Chief Deputy Larry Hubbard address the Ward County Commission Tuesday, Sept. 16, regarding officer retention.

At risk of losing 20% of his force, Ward County Sheriff Robert Roed brought a proposal for department pay raises to the Ward County Commission’s budget discussion Tuesday, Sept. 16.

Roed said the Minot Police Department has been aggressively recruiting Ward County officers, and given its much better pay scale, those efforts could be successful for the city.

“They are coming after our people and they’re offering them $10,000 to $20,000 more,” Roed said. Four patrol officers have applied to move over to the city, including one with 10 years of experience and two with more than four years each, he said. Three other officers also are considering offers from the city, he added.

“In October, we could be down four of 17 patrol positions. If we lose seven, we’re in a whole different ball game as far as public safety goes,” Roed said, noting filling the positions becomes more difficult as well. “We have people looking to come to our department, but if they can move to Minot and make more money, it’s hard for us to compete with that.”

The Sheriff’s Department received a state Back the Blue grant to aid in retention. The $130,160 from the state would provide for bonuses of $600 after six months and another $600 after a year. However, this is not much incentive given the pay being offered by the Minot Police, Roed said.

“I know it is difficult to find the money. I apologize for coming to you with a problem that I don’t have a solution for,” he told commissioners. “I’m looking to you for a solution. I know the decision is not easy.”

The Sheriff’s Department presented a pay schedule that would provide 4% raises and other adjustments across the board.

“This doesn’t narrow the gap even half, but it’s something,” said Roed, who asked to be personally excluded from any raise in the new plan.

Chief Deputy Larry Hubbard said the department’s culture is not the issue, so the hope is that enhancing the pay will provide encouragement for those who would rather stay and maybe slow the number who are considering leaving.

“If we go down seven, that’s one-fifth of our entire department gone, potentially in 60 days, and that’s going to hurt fast,” he said.

The department hadn’t calculated a total cost of the proposal for the commission to use in determining the budget impact.

County Auditor/Treasurer Marisa Haman earlier in the discussion presented updated budget numbers based on more recent calculations of anticipated cash carryover at the end of the year. The proposed budget levy currently sits $61,000 over the state’s 3% cap on tax increases, she said. However, those calculations didn’t include final information received at the meeting that establishes the health insurance cost increase at 9.7% rather than the 10% anticipated in the proposed budget. That is expected to bring the levy under the cap with room to spare.

Commissioners made no decisions but plan to finalize the budget either immediately or soon after the public budget hearing set for Wednesday, Sept. 17, at 6 p.m. in commission chambers.

Minot Police Chief Michael Frye issued a statement, saying, “The Minot Police Department cannot speak directly on individual applicants. I can say that anyone who has showed interest in joining the Minot Police Department has approached us openly and will follow the same standard application and hiring process as all other candidates.”