Council Increases Police Pay
HUTTO — The police department received an early Christmas gift this year — City Council added an unexpected $500,000 into the budget to bring police pay into the upper tier of area law enforcement. The increase, which was approved at the Sept. 28 council meeting, is in addition to regular cost-of- living raises and step increases, according to city officials.
“It’s just a testament to who our city is and the value they have for our police department,” said Police Chief Jeffrey Yarbrough. “(Mayor Mike Snyder) has been unapologetic about his support because he sees the value of what we do and who we do it for.
Hearing it echoed by the rest of city council … I was just truly in awe.”
In addition to the pay increase, the budget included funding for four additional officers. Earlier in September, the council approved a 15% pay differential for officers working the night shift.
The chief said they have not yet determined how much of a raise the officers will be receiving, but he believes it will put Hutto’s police department well above the market average. With a half-million dollars being invested in a new total of 55 sworn police officer positions, the increase is likely to be substantial.
Yarbrough said officers from around the state have been watching what’s happening in Hutto, and council’s decisions are already having an impact.
“We’ve had several officers who have applied and tested in anticipation of the department getting the support we got last night,” Chief Yarbrough said. “Two are ready to start Monday (Oct. 2), one from Midland and another from here in Central Texas. And we’ve got a wave of six more that applied last week after the council meeting. They have already taken the written and physical tests and oral review board.”
Yarbrough said the department had seven vacancies, but five of those are waiting for cadets who are currently in their last phase of community training. The new budget adds four more vacancies, but the interest the department has already seen from experienced officers wanting to work in Hutto means the department should soon be operating at full staff.
At previous council meetings, Chief Yarbrough had discussed the difficulty in recruiting officers.
Recently passed State legislation mandating that all school campuses have an armed security presence has increased the demand and is giving officers other options than city police forces. In addition, Williamson County Sheriff’s Department increased their pay in order to be more aggressive at recruiting and retaining experienced officers.
“The spike we’ve seen in the last few weeks has been a tremendously higher amount of interest over the last few months,” Chief Yarbrough said. “Officers want to come to Hutto. They want to come here where they truly feel valued.”
Hutto City Council approved a budget increase for the Hutto Police Department during the Sept. 28 council meeting.
Photo by Hutto Police Chief Jeffrey Yarbrough
