Council looks at hiring, keeping police

SPRINGDALE — Recruiting and retention of police officers concerned members of the City Council on Friday as they considered the 2022 budget proposal from Mayor Doug Sprouse.

The $57 million proposed budget included $3 million which would increase pay to all positions in the city. Most full-time employees would see a 7% to 8% raise in pay.

Sprouse said these pay increases would be needed to keep the city competitive in the Northwest Arkansas job market.

The City Council met with the city’s department heads in a day-long work session, during which the department leaders answered questions about their proposed budgets. Several presented budgets with no increases beyond the pay raises.

Council members again will consider the budget Monday before its regular meeting as a committee of the whole.

Sprouse and his staff will present the council with a few other spending scenarios the council suggested.

The city competes with the private sector as employees of the city take jobs in the public sector, which pay more, Sprouse said. Springdale also loses employees to other cities in Northwest Arkansas which might pay more for the same job.

The Planning Department lost its senior planner this year to the private sector, said Patsy Christie, the department chairman. District Court Judge Jeff Harper said his court clerk left for Elkins, which is paying $3 more an hour.

The city earlier this year contracted with the Johanson Group for a labor market study, which found the city needed to raise pay rates to attract and keep employees in all departments.

Council member Kevin Flores wants to raise the pay for starting police officers to improve recruitment.

The current minimum pay for a police officer in Springdale is $ 36,000. The 2022 budget would raise that to $40,229, a 12% increase.

Sprouse cautioned against raising just one level of salary without raising others.

The city’s financial staff has developed the budget to ensure equity, Sprouse said. The city could face a situation where a sergeant is making more than a lieutenant if the steps of compensation aren’t followed.

“Somewhere down the road, we would face another increase to correct this one,” Sprouse said. “We could face discrepancy down the road that could affect retention.”

Sprouse’s proposal for wage increases would raise the Police Department’s pay by 5%, said Colby Fulfer, the mayor’s chief of staff. Step raises would increase it only 3%.

The city invests a lot in its employees in starting positions, Sprouse said. He hopes the employees will realize, that with training and benefits the city offers in addition to pay, they will learn working for the city can be a good career.

He also wants to see bigger raises to higher level employees.

“There’s the chance of losing those we’ve invested most in,” he said. “We could lose those with the aspirations to work for the city and those with years of institutional knowledge.”

Council member Mike Overton called for a 10% salary raise for the corporals and sergeants in the Police Department, positions that seem vulnerable for loss, he said.

“Those middle ranks are the driving force,” he said. “They are our line troops.”

Paying higher starting salaries for police officers is an investment in the city, Flores said. “In five years, these guys will be our corporals and sergeants. But they won’t be if we’re not getting the top candidates.”

Police Chief Mike Peters noted testing and interviews for higher positions usually result in hires from the department’s ranks.

And a number of police and fire employees are earning as much as the city’s pay scale will allow, Sprouse continued. Higher salaries also put more money into the employees’ retirement accounts.

Sprouse said factors in addition to pay also are important. Other compensation and benefits let the city add value to its employment positions.

Council member Brian Powell noted the amenities the city has provided for the police in the last few years: second weapons, new cars, a new radio system, body cameras, even the new Criminal Justice Center.

“We’ve focused on that a lot of years,” Fulfer said. “We’ve made sure they have every piece of equipment they have ever asked for.

“The council’s sentiment today was that we want to have the very best for our guys. They want to make sure we are doing all we can,” Fulfer concluded.

“And as important as our public safety officers are, we’ve also got the Fire Department, and we’ve got other departments that are just as important to some citizens,” Sprouse said.

Council member Randall Harriman also wants Springdale to offer the highest entry pay in Northwest Arkansas.

He noted that’s the way the Springdale School District has hired great teachers for many years.

Police Capt. Derek Hudson, the department’s recruiting officer, reported the department hired five new recruits this fall and four of them will start in January.

He said in the two hiring sessions in 2020, the department hired 19 and kept 11 and hired 18 and kept eight.

Applications for the Police Department dropped by 48% since 2018.

Fire Chief Blake Holte said the Fire Department faces a similar situation.

He noted the department’s hiring sessions two times a year bring roughly 50 applications each. Only 20 or 30 make it through the testing, and 20 to 25 make it through the Civil Service Commission interviews, he said.

But the Fire Department does not always find qualified candidates to hire.

“They meet the state’s minimum requirements, but they don’t meet ours,” Holte said.

The department hired six in the spring, with three remaining with the department.

Holte noted that firefighters’ most common reasons for leaving are changing life situations rather than pay.

But Harriman said he thinks young potential officers look only at the salary amounts, not accompanying benefits. The lowest pay won’t attract candidates, he said.

“You offer less pay, you get less applicants and less in the talent pool,” Flores said. “Increasing the money is not the ultimate solution, but you increase the applications, you increase the talent pool.”

Peters proposed $25,000 in the police budget for recruiting tactics, which might include a bonus for officers who bring candidates who are hired as officers and displays at job fairs.

“It’s a tough atmosphere to hire police officers right now,” Sprouse said, referring to instances across the country that have resulted in some people distrusting police.

The city sits in good financial shape, with sales tax receipts up 12% over the last year, Fulfer said.

Expected revenue for the city in 2022 is $62,671,700 — up 17% from $53,369,720 since 2020.

The 2022 operating budget of $52,924,050 calls for an 8% increase over the 2021’s $52,849,050. A 6% increase is more typical, Fulfer said.

“Three years ago we had to cut elsewhere to give step raises,” Fulfer noted. “It’s nice to be in this position where we can raise salaries.”