While a four-tier wage scale system was implemented by the county commission in 2011 for employees of the Sheriff's Department to bring them up to a level of pay that was more competitive with other agencies, Sheriff Patrick Ray told the county budget committee last week that he felt that it was time to revisit his department’s pay scale. The system was put into place for years ago because the sheriff’s department was having trouble retaining employees, because many of his staff were leaving for better pay and benefits at other agencies. After making several cuts to other areas of the sheriff’s budget to help fund pay increases, the committee approved a plan to accommodate the sheriff's request which includes a new scale that adds two more tiers to help keep long-time employees on board.