Palm Beach Gardens is making a move to keep experienced police officers patrolling neighborhoods.
City documents show officers could get an additional 6 percent raise and increase their salary range.
All of this comes after the possibility of losing several officers to the Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office, where they can traditionally make more money.
The proposed raise is on top of an already negotiated 6 percent raise that was scheduled to go into effect in October.
According to city documents, "It has been city policy to make salary adjustments necessary to maintain an externally competitive position of being within the top three to five comparable Palm Beach County municipalities; however, the local law enforcement labor market has changed dramatically, making it increasingly challenging to retain, as well as recruit, qualified police officers."
The adjustment would raise the base salary for an officer from a little more than $50,000 to $54,000. A sergeant would go from $68,000 to $72,000.
The city council is scheduled to vote on the proposal at Thursday night’s meeting.
The raises will cost $1.6 million in next year’s budget.
