Saltillo raises police officer pay to fill ranks

SALTILLO – Police officers in Saltillo will see their paychecks grow considerably next month.

Through a standard pay raise and moving around existing funds, the pay for Saltillo's patrolmen, including benefits, will increase by more than $7,000 a year starting Oct. 1.

"The board (of aldermen) gave us a 2% raise in the new budget," said Police Chief Rusty Haynes. "We were also able to use some un-utilized funds and spread those around to all the patrol officers."

The standard 2% raise bumped the pay up just 37 cents to $18.38 per hour. Haynes was able to eliminate one position in the department and combine that with funds that had already been budgeted. When the new money was spread among the eight patrol and one investigator positions, the pay jumped to $21.56.

That pay scale is bolstered by the department's paid holiday policy, which can add $2,000 and the department's practice of giving each officer a take-home vehicle. Haynes said the new package is worth more than $51,500 annually.

"That is a large jump for the city of Saltillo Police Department which makes us very competitive with the market," Haynes said. "The increase was overdue. We were behind the curve as far as other departments our size."

In fact, the department lost a third of its patrol staff when three officers resigned within a month to seek higher pay or jobs in the private sector.

The department hired one replacement earlier this week and plans to fill one more slot.

The chief said the additional money will help to not only attract qualified new officers, it will also help the city keep the officers it already has.

"Recruitment and retention are the two biggest challenges to running a department," Haynes said. "This will help with both."

Saltillo Mayor Corey Grantham said the county school district has agreed to match the pay increases for the two school resource officers it funds.