City continues to study officer incentives

Mileage reimbursement for police, firefighters may stretch budget, says city

A Bellaire councilman’s effort to add a mileage bonus for police officers has temporarily fallen short, but has ignited debate about what can be done to help the city recruit and retain officers and has raised hints of future tax increases.

Councilman James Avioli proposed in September providing a mileage reimbursement to add $2,000 per year to patrol officer’s pay.

Council decided city staff should study budget and policy implications and at the October meeting, council determined staff should be given another 120 days to develop a plan.

Avioli’s plan would grant patrol officers 20 cents per mile for up to 20 miles of travel one way to work. This comes to $8 round trip per day, to $40 per week and to $2,000 over 50 weeks. With 39 officers the annual budget impact would be $78,000.

City Manager Paul Hofmann and Police Chief Byron Holloway offered an amended plan in October which added firefighters and paramedics.

The city has 21 employees in the fire department eligible for the mileage reimbursement.

The city has 30 police officers eligible for a mileage reimbursement.

Mayor Phil Nauert was

concerned that the current budget was already strained.

Holloway recommended to the council that police staff be allowed an additional 120 days to study and return with a more wider range of potential incentives, which might include the mileage reimbursement.

“I commend Council Member Avioli for his innovative approach in addressing police retention and recruitment. With that said, I do not know if resources exist to fund this proposal and recommend other options be explored before this stipend is implemented,” Holloway wrote.

He said recruiting considerations include promoting a desirable work environment, affording opportunities for personal and professional development and creating the perception that an individual’s training, education and experience are recognized and valued.

Other recruiting items to look at include establishing an academy reimbursement of up to $2,000, increasing vacation and holiday time to market levels and tuition reimbursement, he said.

Holloway said that a cost-to-hire study in 2014 revealed it costs between $19,000 to $20,000 for the city to recruit, hire and train a police officer.

Hofmann told the council in September that Bellaire patrol officer compensation is in the 75th percentile as compared to 21 surrounding cities based on a 2014 market analysis.

The city’s human resources department reports entry salary for a Bellaire police officer is currently $51,272 annually. The annual pay range for patrol officers is $51,272 to $69,879. Director of Human Resources Yolanda Williams said “commuting to and from work is not a non-taxable, reimbursable expense. Therefore, a mileage compensation (incentive) plan would be taxable income. Assuming a 25 percent single rate tax bracket the incentive would be reduced from $2,000 to $1,500.”

Hofmann has consistently raised concerns about the impact of adding recurring expenses to the budget because city staff budget projections indicate the city will experience a decline in its fiscal-year-ending fund balances.

Nauert said that achieving higher compensation and benefits for police and firefighters would likely entail a tax rate increase at some point.

“This may require in the future that we increase taxes. But I have never heard a Bellaire resident say we pay our police officers too much,” he said.