ST. CHARLES COUNTY • Most veteran sheriff's deputies would get a pay raise of about 8 percent under a proposed budget passed by the St. Charles County Council. County Executive Steve Ehlmann called the move "unprecedented," since the council also on Monday night approved giving a 1 percent across-the-board raise and an additional 2 percent merit increase for most other county workers. "If there's such thing as an unwritten rule in county government, it is to treat all employees the same," he said. Ehlmann has 10 days to decide whether to veto the measure. He wouldn't say Tuesday which way he was leaning. The one-time salary increase would go to deputies who have at least 10 years with the department. One percent is the across-the-board raise, 2 percent is the merit increase, and 5 percent would come from the sheriff's department and money the council wants to get from the Orchard Farm and Francis Howell school districts to pay up to half the salaries of six school resource officers. Now, the county pays the school officer salaries. It's typical for other cities locally to charge districts for school resource officers, Ehlmann said. The two school districts have not yet responded to the county's request. Officials from both districts said Tuesday they would like to keep their officers but have not made a final decision. If the districts pay, the county would have an extra $84,000. That, coupled with an extra $43,000 provided by the sheriff's department, would be enough to fund the raises. They would go into effect on July 1, at the beginning of the school district fiscal year. Sheriff's deputies have complained of pay inequities. The starting deputy pay is about $45,000; the top is about $65,000. Those who support raising deputy pay say the county is losing experienced officers to higher-paying cities. The average salary for a patrol officer in the county is about $48,000, The average is about $57,000 in O'Fallon, $59,000 in St. Peters, and $65,000 in St. Charles. "We don't want a bunch of damn rookies. We want experienced guys," said council chairman Joe Brazil, R-Defiance, who voted to pass the budget which included the raises. "Why should we be the training ground?" The budget passed on a 4-2 vote, with Terry Hollander, R-St. Charles, and Nancy Matheny, R-Weldon Spring, voting against it. They worried that the county would be spending money it didn't have, since it hadn't heard from the school districts. "I support the whole idea that they certainly need raises," Hollander said. "Basically, we're budgeting money that we're not 100 percent certain will come in." Read more: http://www.stltoday.com/news/local/stcharles/st-charles-county-council-votes-pct-raise-for-deputies/article_c62fc2db-1e0c-54b3-8434-226d055c2fef.html#ixzz1l5WU4E6i