‘$1,000 pay raise;’ St. Johns County Sheriff seeking $10.5 million budget increase

ST. JOHNS COUNTY, Fla. — St. Johns County Sheriff Rob Hardwick is seeking to increase the sheriff’s office budget by $10.5 million. Sheriff Hardwick presented this to county commissioners on Tuesday.

>>> STREAM ACTION NEWS JAX LIVE <<<

If approved, this will surpass last year’s budget by 8.6%.

[DOWNLOAD: Free Action News Jax app for alerts as news breaks]

“So last year’s budget was about $118.5 million. This year’s budget is just over $128 million,” Sheriff Hardwick said. “It comes with a price tag to take care of your people.”

Sheriff Hardwick said the sheriff’s office has nearly 1,000 employees. He said all of them would get a $1,000 pay raise if this budget increase gets approved.

Hardwick mentions he currently has about 562 deputies serving the county. Of that number, 23 were added just last year. The sheriff said he’s looking to add 21 additional positions.

He also states each deputy costs his department about $206,000, after benefits, training, salary, and other expenses.

Sheriff Hardwick said, “If you would give me an increase of $1 million in my budget, that’s five deputy sheriffs.”

Hardwick said since he’s been sheriff, many deputies received pay increases. He said he wants to keep that trend going to motivate employees.

“Just three and a half years ago, a new deputy sheriff was making $42,000. Now, three and a half years later, they are at $55,000. Our 911 operator was making $39,000. They are now making $50,000,” according to Sheriff Hardwick.

The County Commissioners will decide sometime in September whether to approve the sheriff’s budget request.

[SIGN UP: Action News Jax Daily Headlines Newsletter]

Click here to download the free Action News Jax news and weather apps, click here to download the Action News Jax Now app for your smart TV and click here to stream Action News Jax live.