After a handful of county employees changed their minds, the stalemate between the county's court-related employees and the county commissioners is over and a contract has been signed.

But the Service Employees International Union Local 688 business manager is not pleased with the outcome.

The two sides have been at odds for several months over a two-tier wage system insisted upon by the commissioners. That wage system lowers the starting rate for a sheriff's deputy from $22 to $16 per hour.

John Listisen of the SEIU said the move will cause a revolving door at the sheriff's office, with new hires using the county to gain training before moving on to a higher-paying job.

“This is just ridiculous,” Listisen said. “Starting them out at $16 per hour as a sheriff's deputy is just ridiculous.”

He said the risk factor associated with the job necessitates a higher pay scale.

“It's a major safety issue to the county taxpayers,” Listisen said of the starting pay.

While he would not divulge the most recent vote count, Listisen said the last vote to reject the county's offer was 20-19.

He said a few deputies might have changed their vote because the county's most recent offer increased the after hours on-call pay from $250 to $500.

Employees in the court-related category who are administrative staff at the sheriff's office and in the courts might have changed their minds and voted in favor of the county's most recent offer.

Regardless, Listisen said paying new sheriff's deputies $16 an hour will be disastrous for the county.

“The county will not be able to hire quality deputies at that rate and they will become nothing more than a pass-through training facility,” Listisen said. “They are going to come in and get their training and then go somewhere else to make more money.”

Leslie Osche, county commissioners chairwoman, said turnover is not a new problem among the sheriff's deputies.

“We are going to continue to monitor this and work with the sheriff as needed,” Osche said.

She said she is grateful that the contract passed and all county employees are currently working under a contract.

“We're pleased that we were able to recognize the work of our employees and at the same time represent the taxpayers and contain long-term expenses of salary and benefits,” Osche said.

Listisen said he is disappointed in the results of the negotiations — and he's not alone.

“The union and the deputies are very disappointed with the county and their actions, putting cost ahead of safety,” he said.

The commissioners unanimously approved the SEIU contract with its court-related employees at a meeting Wednesday.

The retroactive contract is in effect between Jan. 1, 2019, and Dec. 31, 2022.