St. Johns County Sheriff Rob Hardwick on Tuesday pitched a proposed $147 million budget to county commissioners, centering his ask on pay bumps for deputies and civilian staff. The plan would lift starting deputy pay from $60,500 to $63,500 and add step increases for ranks from sergeant on down, a package he framed as crucial to recruiting and hanging on to employees as neighboring agencies sweeten their own deals.
Personnel costs dominate the proposal. According to News4JAX, about 80% of the sheriff’s request, roughly $115 million, is tied to personnel services, and salary and benefits account for about 79% of the agency’s overall spending. Hardwick told commissioners that about 98.7% of this year’s proposed increase is connected to pay raises for both sworn and non-sworn staff.
Pay, Competition and School‑Safety Costs
Hardwick warned that the hiring battlefield is changing fast as the Jacksonville Sheriff's Office moves into the Florida Retirement System and begins offering larger starting compensation packages. “Everybody wants to go to the bigger machine,” he told commissioners, pointing to Jacksonville’s starting pay and five-year salary progression as a direct competitive threat to St. Johns County’s recruitment efforts.
The sheriff also, for the first time, broke out school-safety spending in detail. He said the Youth Resource Deputy program carries about a $9.6 million personnel budget, while the school district reimburses roughly $7.3 million, or about 69% of that total, as reported by News4JAX.
Dispatch, Jail and Vehicle Costs
Beyond paychecks, Hardwick’s slides highlighted other pressure points inside the agency. The jail operates on a roughly $34.9 million budget and houses an average of about 414 inmates per day. On the streets, the sheriff said fleet costs have been squeezed by soaring vehicle prices, with the base price for a patrol vehicle now cited near $88,000 and fleet-related debt sitting in the millions.
The agency has also added an air unit and is seeing rising call volumes at dispatch, both of which the sheriff folded into his broader staffing and operations argument for the larger budget.
What Happens Next
The sheriff’s tentative numbers move forward as part of the constitutional officers’ budget cycle. County staff will fold those requests into St. Johns County’s recommended budget in July, and commissioners are expected to consider final adoption later this summer, with the new spending plan set to take effect in October, according to the county budget office. St. Johns County budget materials lay out the full calendar and explain how tentative submissions are reviewed before final approval.
