Five bargaining units representing nearly all of the 126 employees of the Grand Traverse County Sheriff’s Office have filed grievances over planned health insurance hikes next year – with four units also pursuing unfair labor practice complaints.

County commissioners approved benefit cuts in April that will require all county employees to contribute 20 percent toward their health insurance premiums beginning January 1. The hike is expected to double or triple health insurance rates for a majority of employees. When presenting the proposed plan to commissioners, County Administrator Tom Menzel estimated the move would save the county at least $620,000 annually. He also noted Public Act 142 allows the county to apply the changes unilaterally to all employees – including union employees – without negotiation.

But Sheriff Tom Bensley says the bargaining units that represent all but a few employees in his department are seeking to block the move. “The labor attorneys say it’s a done deal (that the employees will prevail),” says Bensley.

Menzel calls the grievances “unfortunate,” saying he wouldn’t have introduced the proposal without the reassurance of legal counsel that the insurance hikes are permitted under state statute. “I hope all of it will be resolved by January, because I’ll be looking at the outcome of that to determine what kind of budget I have,” Menzel says. “I’m not in favor of having non-union employees (bear) all the cuts. It’s got to be across the board for everyone. We all have to work together, or we’re all going under together.”

Menzel says that if union employees are exempted from the healthcare premium increases, he’ll have to make up the funds in the budget by cutting personnel. “I have no choice,” he says. “It has to come from somewhere.”

According to Bensley, the benefit cuts are the latest in a series of morale and funding issues that have made it difficult to retain and recruit deputies. Of 41 deputy positions – 23 general road patrol, 18 community police officers (CPOs) – seven spots are vacant on the shift schedule right now. That includes one open road patrol vacancy, two CPOs on unpaid suspension facing criminal charges, one deputy on light duty, and three deputies still in training.

The department has also averaged turnover of approximately 5-6 deputies per year for the past several years, says Bensley. He attributes the churn in part to retirement, but also to budget constraints that have prevented the department from offering competitive wages.

“The TCPD (Traverse City Police Department) has better pay and benefits, and they’re in the same building as us,” says Bensley. “It’s not like they’re in Cleveland. So why wouldn’t guys go there?” The sheriff says he’s concerned “unhappiness” over the insurance hikes could further spur deputies to seek employment elsewhere.

In order to address its scheduling shortage, the department may soon start pulling staff from other positions to fill general road patrol. That could include CPOs currently assigned to specific communities, says Bensley, or “the other option is leave vacancies in the detectives bureau or Traverse Narcotics Team.”

Given the county’s debt struggles, debate over funding for the Sheriff’s Office – which represents approximately 35 percent of the county’s budget – is likely to continue.

“In order to fully staff the department, we’d have to increase our compensation,” says Bensley, noting that the department's number of law enforcement positions has remained static for 10 years, even as population and crime rates have increased. “If that’s not going to happen, we’ll have to prioritize what we do, or maybe do less.”

But Menzel, who’s hired an outside firm to do a complete audit of the Sheriff’s Office to look for ways to increase efficiencies, says the department is no different than any other.

“You have to be candid with people that we’re an organization that has financial challenges, and we’re trying to work through them,” he says. “From a managerial perspective, you have to find creative, innovative ways to deal with that. You find out how good a manager you are when you have to maintain the same level of service with fewer resources.”