- A temporary hiring freeze was put in place for any positions that are funded by the general fund after a tax error
- Now agencies can start hiring again, including public safety
- Watch the video to hear how this happened
Broadcast Transcript:
“These positions are very vital to the Wakulla County Sheriff’s Office and continuing to keep Wakulla County safe.”
Wakulla County Sheriff, Jared Miller says he’s glad Commissioners voted unanimously to fund and resume hiring.
Let’s go back to how this all started
Last fall The Wakulla County Property Appraiser’s Office reported that they made a multi million dollar mistake.
When I spoke with Wakulla County Property Appraiser, Ed Brimner back in October after they first discovered the error, he said it happened when a parcel was bought and it was split into four separate lots, during that process one of the lots was put into the system as 41,000 lots by mistake which made that single property worth over $300M. ($307.5M)
Since then, Brimner says they've made changes to avoid this from happening ever again.
As one way to make up for the mistake, a temporary hiring freeze was put in place. It was for any positions that are funded by the general fund which includes public safety.
Now, the Wakulla County Sheriffs Office and Wakulla County Fire Rescue are able to start adding more people to their teams.
This is what they’ll receive
WCSO: $188,400
WCFR: $240,541
Wakulla County Fire Rescue and Louis Lamarche, Public Safety Director and Fire Chief says they are
"Grateful to the Board of County Commissioners and Administration for their continuing support of Public Safety. These nine new positions will be hired across three shifts to provide 24/7 fire protection in the eastern portion of Wakulla County. WCFR will immediately begin recruiting efforts to fill these positions and place the new Engine Company into service.”
During the hiring freeze, Sheriff Miller said they did what they could and officers were working overtime to fill the gap.
“It was very concerning for us as the Sheriff’s Office because the calls don’t stop because we don’t have the position, the calls continue to come and we answer calls everyday and our staff and deputies are working hard everyday to continue to keep Wakulla County safe and we will continue to do that.”
He says hiring more people will help them by growing a larger team after they had to put that on hold.
“We’re behind already because we had to wait because six months ago we got approved for positions we’re just now getting.”
Sheriff Miller says he’s confident about what’s ahead
“I’m very optimistic about the Wakulla County Sheriff’s Office future and I’m looking for Deputies that want to work and that are community oriented love Wakulla County.”
The hiring can start June 1st. If you’re interested in helping to keep Wakulla County safe, here's where you can get more information.
WCSO Careers: https://www.wcso.org/administration/page/employment
WCFR CAREERS: https://www.mywakulla.com/employment_opportunities/
