Hillsboro residents will be asked on April 3 to approve a 1/2-cent sales tax increase for the benefit of the city’s Police Department.
It will take a simple majority vote to approve the increase, which city officials say will be used to pay police salaries and buy equipment.
If approved, Proposition E would increase the sales tax rate paid in the city from 8.725 percent to 9.225 percent.
Currently, the city charges 1.375 percent of that 8.725 percent. The rest goes to the state, the county, the Hillsboro Fire Protection District, the Valle Ambulance District and Jefferson County 911 Dispatch.
The city’s rate would increase to 1.875 percent if the tax hike is approved.
Mayor Joe Phillips said keeping officers on the department’s roster is the main reason to vote for the measure.
“First of all, we have the lowest starting salary of any police department in JeffersonCounty,” said Phillips, an alderman recently voted mayor by his fellow board members. “In my 12 years on the board, I’m guessing we’ve had a 90 percent turnover in officers. That may not be the highest, but it’s got to be close.”
Lt. Steve Hutt, the head of the Police Department, said he could confirm Phillips’ estimates. Hutt said he is the department’s longest-tenured employee, having joined in 2007.
Phillips said voter approval of the sales tax increase would help the city keep its police officers from leaving to go to better-paying law enforcement entities or to other lines of work.
“A lot of them leave to go to higher-paying jobs,” he said. “Hillsboro has become a training ground for officers to go to other departments.
“We want to keep our officers. We want a professional staff. We want to keep them happy. The only way to do that is to pay them better.”
The base pay rate for a starting officer in Hillsboro is $14.45 an hour.
City officials expect the additional 1/2-cent tax to generate somewhere around $150,000 a year and it is not yet known how many positions might be added to the Police Department if Proposition E passes.
The additional money will take care of some – but not all – of the department’s needs, but it will help the situation, city officials say.
Phillips said he is not aware of any organized opposition and believes the public will want to vote for what is, essentially, a public safety measure.
“I think most people support the Police Department,” he said. “Hillsboro is a good, safe community. The way to keep it safe is to maintain our Police Department.”