The Cameron County Sheriff's Office is working to add more jailers to its staff.

According to Cameron County Sheriff Eric Garza, one thing is preventing the department from gaining more staff.

“The significant thing that we've seen is it's all about salary,” Garza said. “People want to get paid what the job is, and this job isn't for everybody; and it can be a very stressful job."

Sheriff Garza says he is losing deputies and detention officers to other agencies that offer better pay.

The starting salary for deputies is $37,000. Garza wants to boost that to $45,000, but the county is proposing a smaller pay boost for detention officers.

“It is $3,000 more, but I don't believe it's enough to allow people to be able to apply," Garza said.

The sheriff's office currently has 50 detention officer positions open, and they’re not the only county department asking for an employee pay raise.

Cameron County Precinct 2 Constable Abel Gomez says his office is also struggling to retain and hire new employees.

Cameron County Judge Eddie Treviño Jr. says the county has an extra $6 million in their budget for the new fiscal year.

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The extra funding is linked to the increase in property appraisals.

“Obviously that had an impact on the amount of revenue that we're receiving based upon the tax rate,” Treviño Jr. said. 

More than half of the $6 million the county received will go towards a 5% salary increase for all county employees, and longevity pay.

“We're utilizing that to address some of the issues that we have not been able to address because we have not had the additional funding,” Treviño Jr. said.

Treviño Jr. said he hoped to finalize the county budget by Sept. 5.