Council asked to align pay for retired state officers with lateral hire scale to aid recruitment

Radcliffe Police Department leaders urged the City Council to change the treatment of state‑retired officers to align their pay with the city’s lateral hire pay scale, a move staff said would make Radcliffe more competitive for experienced officers and provide immediate operational relief.

Chief Cross (police) and finance staff explained the current personnel policy treats state retirees differently from lateral hires: a fixed contract salary amount for retirees appears in the handbook, while lateral hires with 10 or more years of service receive pay and step credit under the pay plan. Staff requested removing the fixed dollar language for state retirees so those hires would be paid under the same established pay plan as laterals; the change would make the retiree pay follow future pay‑scale adjustments without requiring council action each time.

Chief Cross said six state retirees are currently on the books and the city is authorized to hire up to 11; the department has lost multiple officers recently and several recruits are still in training. "We have a lot of officers that don't have a lot of experience," Chief Cross said, explaining the operational need for experienced, sometimes retired, officers who can provide immediate help and supervisory presence.

Staff said the handbook language currently reads that a state retiree would "earn a salary of 67,671 upon his annual contract signing" (as recorded in the meeting transcript) and that striking the fixed figure would tie retirees to the pay plan instead of a single fixed contract amount. City staff also noted that Kentucky retirement rules allow municipalities to hire retirees without paying employer retirement match and that hiring retirees can therefore be cost‑effective.

No ordinance or personnel‑policy vote was recorded in the meeting; staff asked the council to consider the change at an upcoming meeting and said implementing it could allow a recently hired state retiree to receive retroactive pay under the revised structure if the council acts promptly.