County exploring what it would take to takeover service
By Randy Arrington
LURAY, July 23 — The clock is ticking on a decision regarding the management of animal control services in Page County. Sheriff Chad Cubbage said last week that the board of supervisors has about one month — or until about Labor Day — to decide if they want to take over animal control, or give him an $18,000 salary increase (13.8%) above the approximate $130,500 he currently draws from the state compensation board.
“I’ve done it eight years for free… but all the liability on calls is on me,” Sheriff Cubbage recently told PVN.
Nearly 20 years ago, it was the Page County Board of Supervisors who originally proposed that then-Sheriff Daniel W. Presgraves should receive an additional stipend of $4,000 to take over the management of animal control services from the county. The decision came in the wake of multiple issues at the county’s animal shelter, including animal cruelty charges, which drew animal rights activists and organizations to Page County. When Sheriff John Thomas subsequently took over the department, he refused the additional stipend for managing animal control. The stipend has never been reinstated.
Sheriff Cubbage has compared additional compensation given to other sheriffs in the region for managing animal control, which he says ranges from $8,000 annually up to $30,000. The sheriff of Orange County receives $30,000 annually added to his state comp board salary to manage animal control, according to Cubbage. The sheriff of Warren County receives about $12,000 in additional pay, he said.
Sheriff Cubbage feels his request of $18,000 is “close to the average of about $15,000 to $18,000.” By comparison, the $18,000 requested by the sheriff represents about one-third of the average household income in Page County — estimated at $56,760 in 2022.
“I didn’t try to go high, I didn’t try to go low… I went in the middle trying to be fair, but I’m not going to do it for free anymore while having the liability,” Sheriff Cubbage said. “I always want to do the best I can for the citizens … but I’ve done it for eight years for free.”
Following the June 6 request by the sheriff for a 14-percent salary increase and a new Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) regarding animal control services, County Administrator Amity Moler began exploring what it would take for the county to resume responsibility of Animal Control Officers after a two-decade hiatus.
“The ACO positions in the Sheriff’s Office are fully funded county positions,” noted Moler, comparing the local dollars to state-funded “comp board” positions. “If the shift is made [for animal control] from the Sheriff to the County, [the sheriff] will lose the funding for the positions and all [the county] fund[s], or has funded, to support the department [related to animal control], including the vehicles and equipment.”
However, Moler acknowledges that staffing the ACO positions could be more difficult for the county, especially considered the training required.
“If current ACO certified staff were to choose not to transition to county employment, the county would have to hire new staff, enroll them in the ACO training (limited availability) and get them certified before they can do their job,” Moler told PVN.
However, the sheriff, who utilizes ACOs also as road deputies and for other responsibilities, doesn’t plan to lose any staff.
“They may take the position, but they can’t take my people,” Sheriff Cubbage said.
The sheriff insists this is not just another showdown or power struggle with the county administrator. A few years ago, a struggle over the management of the Emergency Operations Center ended with the sheriff filing a lawsuit against the county. The suit was not successful. The county took over management of the EOC, and the sheriff did not receive a reduction in salary for being relieved of those duties.
“I’m not trying to argue with anyone… if they don’t want me to manage it, they can take it back,” Cubbage said, while adding that the Sheriff’s Office can do a superior job to the county in providing animal control. “But it will be a disservice to the citizens [if the county takes it over]… There is no way they can cover it the way the Sheriff’s Office can.”
One thing that both sides agree on is that the volume of calls for animal control is increasing. In an attempt to justify an earlier proposal to charge fees to each town for the county to provide the service, Moler stated in a July 3 email that “the call volume has quadrupled since 2017.” The idea of a fee for each town has been scrapped, but Moler’s email to the three town managers and police chiefs clearly stated that: “The Page County Sheriff’s Office and County [currently] have MOUs with each town to perform Animal Control services within each town… If [the sheriff turns it back over to the county], I don’t have the staff to offer services within town limits. This will not be an immediate change, if it happens, but [I] wanted to make sure you [were] aware of the possibility.”
If the county takes over animal control, it is likely that the three towns will have to rely on their individual police departments for animal control. Wild animals still fall under the jurisdiction of a game warden employed by the Virginia Department of Game and Inland Fisheries.
“The county would not be available for Animal Control duties within the town limits,” Moler told PVN. “Each town would be responsible for their own, which they did not budget in the current year.”
However, according to Moler, even if the sheriff’s office hands over animal control, they will still be responsible for those calls in a “back-up” capacity for county-paid staff.
“Ultimately, County Animal Control would be available from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. and on-call for emergencies after hours,” Moler stated. “The Sheriff’s Office has Patrol [deputies] as back-up to ACO duties and 24-hour availability. The County does not have that.”
Even though none of the additional funds would go toward his department or the employees doing the front line work, Sheriff Cubbage believes his request for a raise supplemented by local dollars is justified.
“I don’t feel that I’m being unfair on this thing in any way.”
For more information about the Page County Sheriff’s Office,
visit https://pagesheriff.com/
•••
RELATED ARTICLES
Sheriff walks out on supervisors during questions about budget overages
Sheriff’s Office receives accreditation
Sheriff denied request to remove GPS from command staff radios and other county news
Inmate’s mother sues county, sheriff, deputies for $1.85M over ‘wrongful death’
Sheriff’s Office finds missing Glock, but department still under suspension
Sheriff supports local militia; says he was asked to be at Elkton protest
How about he calls it even for going overbudget and refusing accountability?
This is a bargain, especially compared to the costs of any new arrangement. Do not discount the depth of knowledge and skills already in place. Sherif Cubbage is making a reasonable request.
The Warren County Sheriff gets $12k for this task.
Page has 56% of the population of Warren.
So $6,800 a year sounds fair for our Sheriff.
Why would you spend all that money to get elected if your not happy with the compensation package, he knew what the job entailed.
This is a pretty well paid position if you compare other sheriffs salaries around the state.
At my work they told me if I was not happy with my compensation, I was free to market myself elsewhere.
Wait. Chad is asking for more money for himself? Seriously?
Why would Chad personally need $18k more a year for animal control? is he the one catching stray dogs? I thought he was trying to get more money for his team. What!?