Herculaneum officials hope a recent increase in compensation for city police officers and Public Works employees will help the city hire and retain experienced workers, said former City Administrator Dusty Hosna, who resigned from his position on Feb. 4.
As of Tuesday morning, the city had not hired a new administrator, and Mayor Ryan Wright was filling in.
The Herculaneum Board of Aldermen voted 4-0 Dec. 16 to increase the pay for employees from both the Public Works and Police departments, and the raises took effect on Jan. 1. Aldermen Dennis Tesreau of Ward 1 and Israel Clayman of Ward 3 were absent from the meeting.
“It (the increase in pay) basically gave the city a way to recruit officers with more experience. Under the old system, officers hired out of the academy were paid at the same rate as an officer who was hired with 20 years of experience,” he said.
Hosna said Herculaneum officials looked at the salaries from other cities to help decide where the pay scale should be, adding that he believed the pay raises will help keep Herculaneum competitive with other similar cities.
He said the starting annual salary for a police officer previously was $53,000. With the new pay increases, the starting annual salary for a patrolman is $54,500. It increases to $56,500 for those with four to six years’ experience; $59,500 for seven to nine years’ experience; and $61,500 for 10-plus years of experience. Additionally, a police corporal is paid $64,000; a sergeant $67,000; a captain $77,000; and the chief $83,000.
The new pay scales also raised the hourly wages for Public Works laborers, although the starting pay for new hires remained the same at $18 per hour. However, after six months, the pay increases to $18.50 an hour and continues to increase after that. After one year, it’s $19 an hour and then $19.50 at 18 months; $20 for years two and three; $21 for year four; $22 for years five and six; $23 for year seven; $24 for years eight and nine; $25 for years 10-14; and $26 for 15 years and longer.
In addition to the raises, the city also now offers employees from both departments lateral pay increases at a 2:1 rate. What that means is when an employee moves to a new position within the same pay grade, the person’s salary is adjusted to a rate two steps higher than his or her current pay. That gives the employee two-step increases in his or her salary, despite taking a position considered a “lateral” move, rather than a promotion.
The pay increases will cost the city a total of $44,000 this fiscal year, with $36,000 for the Police Department and $8,000 for the Public Works Department, Hosna said.
“We do feel this will make our benefit package more attractive,” he said.
Hosna said the Police Department is currently short one officer, and the Public Works Department is down one laborer.
The Public Works Department, which includes street, water, sewer, and park employees, has 11 workers when fully staffed, but when the pay raises were improved, it was at 10, he said.
When at full force, the Police Department has 10 full-time officers. The department had been operating with eight full-time officers, but recently one part-time officer was promoted to full-time, bringing the total up to nine, Hosna said.
Herculaneum Police Chief Sharia Kyle thanked the Board of Aldermen for approving the raises.
“I’ve had multiple people text me already about coming back. I think the lateral pay is going to be a huge win for getting those people coming back that were here for a couple of years and gained experience, so we’re going to be able to piggyback on that other experience they got,” she said.
Hosna said Mayor Ryan Wright advocated for the pay raises.
“Mayor Wright has been a proponent of taking care of city employees, including our police officers. He worked with me and the board to come up with a way to reward our tenured officers while making our department more attractive to applicants. The mayor and board have continued to build our department by introducing part-time officers and investing in new equipment this year, including new bodycams, tasers, rifles and more. This pay system just allows us to better take care of our officers while recruiting the best available applicants,” Hosna said.