Hamilton County commissioners had no major complaints about the 2016 county budget, but it's clear they are hearing complaints from one segment of the public: sheriff's deputies.
The commission's first open discussion of Mayor Jim Coppinger's proposed 2016 budget was dominated Wednesday by questions about Sheriff Jim Hammond's proposed bridge retirement plan for senior officers.
Hammond has pressed for several years for the plan, which aims to retire senior officers at 55 and cover their retirement benefits until they are 62 and eligible for Social Security. Each year, he's been told there are too many uncontrollable, unforeseeable costs.
But Hammond said his finance guys don't say so. He said the bridge plan will cost big on the front end, but will save money over time because higher-paid officers will move off the payroll and be replaced by newer, cheaper hires.
Coppinger says that doesn't account for the expected increase in health care costs for those retirees. To make the program work, the county would have to contribute an additional 3.5 percent to the sheriff's $7 million officer payroll. And that payroll is bound to increase.
The county also would have to change its insurance to allow it to retire officers at 55 instead of 60.
"To do it now, the county would have to budget $600,000 to $1 million [more] for insurance," he said.
The 2016 budget proposed to spend $1.5 million on medical insurance for the sheriff's patrol budget. That's $6,904 more than this budget year.
But commissioners are eager to nail down the costs, because they are taking heat.
Commissioner Sabrena Smedley said she has been "inundated by emails" from officers and residents calling on her to support the police.
"I feel like we've had to tell them we can't afford it, but I haven't had any real numbers," she said.
And Commissioner Greg Beck, a Chattanooga City Court officer, said he was skeptical about the county not being able to afford it.
"I, too, would like to express my support for the bridge plan. It's really hard for me to buy that we can't do it, but we need the will to do it," Beck said. "If a road washes out, we find the money."
To get the story straight, Hammond will meet Friday with Coppinger, commission Chairman Jim Fields and other county staff.
"Those [cost] estimates are all over the table right now, and that's why we want to sit down and see who's comparing apples to apples and oranges to oranges," Hammond said.
Fields said he would attend the meeting on behalf of the commission.
"My concern has always been, I don't want to promise something we can't deliver," he said.
Coppinger, who is a former fire chief, said he would do whatever he could for first responders, but he has a fiduciary duty to the taxpayers.
"If anyone's willing to raise their hands today and say they are willing to support a tax increase today, we could fund a lot of these things," he told commissioners.
No hands were raised.
Contact staff writer Louie Brogdon at lbrogdon@timesfreepress.com, @glbrogdoniv on Twitter or at 423-757-6481.