Guess how many of the 391 full-time employees at the Hamilton County Sheriff's Office earn more than $60,000 a year.
Twelve.
That was one of the figures that cropped up Wednesday during a five-hour budget hearing at which Sheriff Jim Hammond and other county elected officials and department heads came - hat in hand - to seek funds from the Hamilton County Commission.
They took their turns at the podium in the commission chamber at the historic courthouse downtown knowing that, barring a county tax increase, they won't get all that they asked for.
Their combined budget requests sought $20.2 million more from the general fund than in the previous fiscal year, while the county's general fund revenue is expected to increase by only $3.5 million.
The asked-for annual increases ranged in size from $7,317 more sought by the Chattanooga/Hamilton County Air Pollution Control Bureau, which is a 4 percent boost, to Hammond's proposed $4.7 million bump in funding, a 14 percent increase for a total of $38.2 million - the biggest chunk of which was $2.3 million to add about two dozen more jailers.
"We did make an ambitious request," the sheriff told county commissioners. "Probably the biggest need we have is jail personnel."
Jailers hard to find
The six-story jail downtown at the corner of Walnut and East Sixth streets has been plagued for years with overcrowding and understaffing.
As an example, Hammond said that on Tuesday night, he got an email from a reporter about a grandmother who was concerned because her grandson was sleeping on the floor in a crowded county jail room.
"He wasn't on a mattress, because we didn't have any mattresses," Hammond said.
About 400 prisoners who should be in the county jail are housed at Silverdale Detention Facilities, a privately owned prison on Standifer Gap Road.
"We continue to try to put as many out at Silverdale as we can," the sheriff said, calling the need for a new county jail "the elephant in the room" that needs future discussion.
Jailers are hard to find, train and keep - especially as the economy improves and better job opportunities arrive, Hammond said.
"It takes about three months to hire one person," he said.
Air pollution bureau: No increase in 15 years
The county hasn't given a funding increase since 2002 to the Chattanooga/Hamilton County Air Pollution Control Bureau, said its director, Bob Colby. The air pollution bureau's staff has shrunk from 17 full-time employees in 2002 to 13 full-timers and one part-timer, he said. Meanwhile, there's been an increase in employees' pay, the cost of health insurance and rent.
"This trajectory is not sustainable," Colby said.
He also said President Donald Trump has proposed to reduce federal funding for air-quality grants by 30 percent. That could be devastating to the local bureau, he said, since it gets about $505,000 - roughly one-third of its funding - via local air grants from the federal Environmental Protection Agency.
Colby asked the county for an extra $7,317, which would bring the county's total annual contribution to $195,865.
Meanwhile, Criminal Court Judge Don Poole made an impassioned plea for $280,000 in county funding for the Hamilton County Mental Health Court, which launched in 2015.
"For the most part, every Monday that I meet these people, it's a good experience for me, it's a good experience for them," said Poole, who said the court saves the county money by keeping mentally ill people out of jail.
Pay election workers more?
Poll workers here should be paid more, said Kerry B. Steelman, administrator of elections for the Hamilton County Election Commission. Steelman seeks an extra $64,310 from the county, and would use some of that to boost the pay to $135 a day for a poll worker and $175 for a poll officer - up from $100 a day, now, for a poll worker and $160 for a poll officer.
The increase would be in line with the average pay for poll workers in the state's four largest cities.
"Recruiting good people is difficult," Steelman said, noting, "The average age of our poll workers is 73 years old."
Not every department proposed to put a bigger dent in the county budget.
Hamilton County Clerk Bill Knowles, whose office remitted $1.4 million to county general government in 2016, kicked off the budget hearing.
"We have the best county clerk in Tennessee," Commissioner Joe Graham said.
Cutting back on court staff saves money
Hamilton County Circuit Court Clerk Larry Henry proposed a $6,630 increase, or 0.6 percent, for a total budget of $1,076,758. And Henry told commissioners that once the court clerk's office gets a new electronic court document filing system in place in the next 18 months, "we can save hundreds of thousands of dollars per year in salaries alone."
Commissioner Sabrena Smedley praised Henry for saving money by reducing his office's staff from 42 when he was elected in 2014 to 35 employees, now.
"I just want to say, 'Great job,'" Smedley said.
The news wasn't all bad from Hammond. For example, none of the sheriff's office's patrol cars have more than 160,000 miles on them, he told commissioners, which is an improvement.
"We are the healthiest we've been in the fleet in a long time," Hammond said.
County Commissioner Tim Boyd questioned Hammond and got him to say that only 12 of his office's employees, or 3 percent, earn more than $60,000, annually. Boyd said that helped put into perspective what might seem like a significant funding request from Hammond.
"You're not going to get any push-back from this commissioner," Boyd told the sheriff.
Hamilton County Mayor Jim Coppinger will formally present the 2018 budget to the county commission for a vote on June 7.
Contact staff writer Tim Omarzu at tomarzu@timesfreepress.com or facebook.com/MeetsForBusiness or on Twitter @meetforbusiness or 423-757-6651.