By Gail Binkly

Montezuma County Sheriff Joey Chavez is contemplating cutting five full-time positions from his department in order to give raises to the remaining employees and ease the budget crunch in his office.

Only three of the cuts would involve actual layoffs, he told the county commissioners Monday during their preliminary budget discussions. Two persons who work in detention have already left and he does not plan to replace them, he said.

Chavez said he is worried that he will start losing some of his experienced officers to higher-paying departments such as the Cortez police if he isn’t able to give significant raises. The county has budgeted for across-the-board raises of 4 percent for its employees in 2000, but Chavez said that isn’t enough.

"I’ve got quality officers that are looking elsewhere," he said. "I’m looking at these layoffs to work within our operations budget and to give our quality officers a raise so we have that professionalism. I don’t want to lose the caliber of personnel I have now."

If he could give officers a 15-percent raise, Chavez said, it would make the department competitive with the Cortez police department.

"That would put us about even with the city, without their benefits package," he said. "But we’re way below what their supervisors make -- the lieutenants and sergeants -- even with giving a 15-percent raise."

A starting salary for a patrol officer in Montezuma County is $1,884 a month, said Undersheriff Sam Hager. In contrast, the starting salary for a similar position with the city of Cortez is $2,099 a month, according to a chart provided by the sheriff’s office.

Chavez said he wants to retain his employees, as their experience and familiarity with the community are invaluable.

"If we don’t do something, we’re going to start losing some of these officers we’ve trained," he said. "They know this county; they know this community. We’re going to be replacing them with officers that can’t get a job anywhere else and that’s not what I want here."

Chavez asked whether the commissioners would object to him making some staff cuts and using the extra money to give raises to the remaining personnel, and they said they probably would not, as normally the sheriff sets his own pay scale using the total salary money in his budget.

"It wouldn’t be a big issue with us," said chairman Gene Story. "I don’t think it’s for us to tell you how to do that. But it might be difficult to sell if you come in here next year and say, ÔI need to hire some more guys.’"

On Tuesday, Chavez emphasized that the idea of making cuts is preliminary.

"It isn’t a for-sure thing yet," he said. "But we just do not have the operational budget to support too much staff. We have to pay gas, tires, and vehicle maintenance for all these officers and have to supply equipment -- there’s just not enough to go around for them.

"Every time we lose an officer, it costs the taxpayer thousands of dollars’ worth of training," he added. "That’s what I’m trying to avoid -- being a training ground for other departments."

Overall, the proposed budget Chavez presented to the commissioners represented a $36,025 increase over this year’s budget.