HOLLIDAYSBURG — The Blair County sheriff and his chief deputy asked county leaders Wednesday for higher pay for deputies.

If the pay isn’t increased, then staff turnover is going to remain high at a time when the number of qualified candidates is low, Sheriff James Ott and Chief Deputy Christopher Tater told county salary board members.

Full-time deputies currently make $15.38 an hour and part-time deputies make $13.54 an hour.

That’s not enough for deputies who are required to complete 19 weeks of law enforcement training and handle a variety of tasks including ones that routinely put them in danger, Ott said in his office after the salary board meeting concluded.

“This is a skilled position, but our deputies are being paid on par with the county tax assessors,” the sheriff said.

The salary board — composed of county commissioners Bruce Erb, Laura Burke and Amy Webster and county Controller A.C. Stickel — took no action Wednesday in response to the comments Ott and Tater made.

In the future, the commissioners are expected to vote on a union contract with new wages, including ones for the sheriff’s deputies. That contract is being negotiated with the United Mine Workers of America.

The latest version of that proposed contract was recently rejected by the county employees, including deputies, unhappy with the proposed pay increases.

Union leaders and county negotiators are scheduled to return on March 1 to the bargaining table.

Human Resources Director Katherine Swigart told Ott and Tate that the March 1 date was set because that’s when a mediator can attend.

“Both sides want (the mediator) to be available at that session,” Swigart said.

In the meantime, Ott and Tater said they intend to continue their efforts to advocate for higher pay for deputies.

Ott, who is in the first year of his second term as sheriff, said he thinks he hired 50 deputies during his first four years in office to replace those who departed. He also said he listened to a lot of deputies say they liked working for the county but were leaving for jobs with higher pay.

“The $15 an hour,” Tater said, “does not go far enough when paying bills, at least not for a family.”

Current pay levels are also affecting who’s applying to the county for a sheriff deputy position, and their experience of lack of it, Ott said.

Mirror Staff Writer Kay Stephens is at 814-946-7456.