A dispute between Monroe County sheriff's deputies who want better pay and a new sheriff who says his hands are tied by the ailing economy is headed for an impasse hearing Monday.

"We're definitely at an impasse," Sheriff Bob Peryam said Friday. "The things I've said in the past still hold true. I wish I could give them everything they're asking for. I don't disagree with them. They are underpaid. It's a matter of money. It's not there."

The Fraternal Order of Police Lodge 28 union has been at loggerheads with Peryam since September, when they overwhelmingly rejected his proposed employment contract.

A special magistrate ultimately may decide on a one-year contract should the negotiations fail again. Peryam and the union also could ask the County Commission for the money, but the budget is already set, Commissioner Kim Wigington said Friday.

Peryam was not confident that an agreement would be reached next week should negotiations during the special hearing fail.

"We're in one of the worst economic times since the Great Depression," Peryam said. "Unfortunately, it comes down to dollars and cents. My stance is, OK, I don't disagree with them, I just don't have the money."

Peryam has proposed a 4 percent pay raise only for road patrol deputies and sergeants who earn less than $70,000 a year over the next five years. Administrators and civilian employees would not receive a salary hike.

"These guys have not had raises in three years," said John Puleo, the regional union representative. "They keep crying, 'No money, no money,' but do they always have to cut off employees' backs?"

Of 146 deputies who are union members, all 116 who voted rejected Peryam's contract. Deputies want to be paid for overtime instead of getting compensatory time, often referred to as "comp time."

The proposed contract also eliminated a step-pay plan that ensured deputies had a fixed framework of salary ranges and raises. In exchange for that concession, deputies two years ago agreed to forgo vacation pay.

"I was there Wednesday and I think we're close," Puleo said. "But the sheriff doesn't want to pay overtime. We want to be compensated for that. That's a big hurdle. That and the step-pay plan."

Peryam said his deputies make about 14 to 18 percent less than competing agencies in South Florida, but said his hands are tied to a tight Monroe County Commission budget. The County Commission told him he could not increase his budget over last year.

The sheriff said he already eliminated 59 positions to afford the proposed 2 percent cost of living adjustment and 2 percent merit raise. Peryam said he also was stymied by recent news that Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) no longer will house its female detainees at the Stock Island jail. That contract was worth at least $1 million a year.

"We're talking about $786,000 a year in overtime money, a rough estimate," Peryam said. "Coupled with the loss of the ICE contract, now I'm down nearly $2 million."

alinhardt@keysnews.com