COEUR d'ALENE - The Kootenai County commissioners on Thursday approved a pay increase for sheriff's office patrol deputies and command staff.

The $1.50, $2 and $2.50 per hour raises Sheriff Ben Wolfinger's officers are getting will exclude detention deputies who work at the jail. Wolfinger also is excluded.

The level of pay increase will depend on years of service at the sheriff's office. Officers in special duty will get more money for those services, too.

"This is something that I campaigned on," said Commission Chairman David Stewart.

Stewart said he met with Wolfinger many times and collaborated with him on the pay increase proposal.

"The sheriff's office has been losing patrol deputies to other jurisdictions for better pay," Stewart said.

The sheriff's office needs deputies to be moving up the ranks to eventually fill command staff positions, he said.

"Public safety comes into play if officers aren't ready to take over for command staff," when those officers retire, Stewart said.

The county can't afford to continue losing officers who have been trained and gained on-the-job experience, he said.

"The idea is to promote retention, and recruitment," said Commissioner Dan Green. The commission vote was unanimous.

"I give the board of commissioners a great deal of thanks for recognizing and addressing a long-term problem with retaining employees at the sheriff's office," Wolfinger said. "I am sure that this will help us retain experienced employees. Constant turnover of personnel is more expensive than retention."

The commissioners' action marked the first step, and a big step forward, in addressing the issue of being competitive in the area market, Wolfinger said.

Green said he was concerned that the raises will cost the county $526,000 for the remainder of the 2015 fiscal year, through Sept. 30, and approximately $912,000 in the 2016 fiscal year.

"This will require some really tough decisions come budget time," Green said.

The county's total 2015 fiscal year budget is $79 million, with roughly half of that money, $41 million, coming from property taxes.

The county can only raise property taxes 3 percent per year.

Green pointed out that 3 percent of $41 million is $1.2 million.

"We've almost used up our taxing authority," with the raises, Green said.

The commission has not raised property taxes in three of the past four years.

The county can use fund balance money, but Green said the county needs to be careful about that for ongoing expenses.

"It would be like buying a car and always using your savings account to make the payments and not planning on getting a raise at work," Green said.

Deputies with one to three years at the sheriff's office will receive $1.50 per hour raise, $2 per hour for those who have been serving four to six years, and $2.50 per hour for those who have been serving seven years or longer.

In a memo the commissioners emailed Thursday afternoon to county employees, they said pay rates for law enforcement agencies in the area were analyzed before approving the raises.

"Our goal was to gain further understanding of recent patrol deputy turnover," the memo said.

In order to help fund the pay increases, the sheriff and commissioners retired three vacant deputy positions.

The pay changes are slated to take effect March 8.

"We'd like to take a moment to let you know that this board recognizes the dedication of all employees of Kootenai County," the commissioners said. "People come first and that is why we will continue to review matters with regards to employee compensation, including the general pay plan."