Council raises police civilian pay scale to improve hiring and retention

The War Acres City Council on March 17 approved a resolution revising the civilian pay scale for police department non‑union positions after hearing that the city has struggled to hire and retain dispatchers and animal control officers.

Deputy Chief Jason Allen told the council a pay plan last comprehensively reviewed more than a decade ago has left the city uncompetitive with neighboring jurisdictions; recruiters reported very low applicant show‑rates and qualifying applicants. Staff proposed moving several civilian functions (dispatch, animal control officers, records, administrative assistant) into a single civilian pay scale with higher starting steps so new hires would be more competitive with nearby cities. Allen said the change would increase costs for current employees in the short term for some positions and raise starting pay for future hires, while also reducing overtime by filling shifts more reliably.

Council debated how to sustain the increases long term and whether a city‑wide compensation study is needed; staff and the attorney explained the changes impact only the police civilian pay plan and that the council could request a broader city pay study later. After discussion the council moved and adopted the resolution establishing the new civilian compensation rates.

What’s next: Human resources and finance will update payroll tables and bring any required budget adjustments to the council; staff said the change should improve recruitment for critical 24/7 dispatch coverage.