Staff writer
Marion City Council voted Monday to raise entry-level police pay 47.1% after Chief Gideon Cody said doing so would help recruitment.
Top pay scale wages also will increase with first-year assistant chief pay rising 63.6%.
Officers will make $20 to $25.09 an hour, up from a low of $13.59 now.
After two years of experience, officers will make $21 an hour. After three years, the hourly wage will increase to $22. After four, it will increase to $23, and after 10 years, it will top out at $25.09.
The wages for assistant chief had ranged from $15.89 an hour to $29.34 an hour. It will start at $26 and reach $29.34 an hour after three years.
“We need to do something with our pay structure,” Mayor David Mayfield said. “We’re not competitive.”
Wages for Hillsboro officers start at $21 and go up to $26, city administrator Matt Stiles said. Hillsboro police are not covered by the same pension plan, to which Marion contributes 22.99% of wages compared to the standard 8.43% paid by Hillsboro.
Marion participates in the Kansas Police and Firemen’s Retirement System, which provides much greater benefits than the Kansas Public Employees Retirement System.
Council member Zach Collett said KPF was a “great recruiting tool” but people also “need to put food on the table.”
Young people are more interested in a higher wage than retirement, Cody said.
“I’m actively recruiting everywhere I go,” Cody, who started May 30,...
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