The Fayette Board of Aldermen is beginning the budget process for the upcoming fiscal year. What could become a priority are police salaries. The city’s public works director also proposed significant spending on new electrical poles.

Fayette City Marshal David Ford addressed the council at its last meeting on Tuesday, May 10, about increasing salaries to compete with nearby departments. The Fayette Police Department continues to be two officers short, which means current officers are working overtime hours.

Ford said that raising the base pay for starting officers from $16 to $19 per hour would allow Fayette to attract new officers. The raise would mean budgeting about $58,000 more for police salaries compared to last year.

A raise in officer pay would not affect the salary of City Marshal, which is set separately by the council since it is an elected position.

“The bottom line, folks, we’re going to have to do something. We’re in bad straits here,” Chief Ford told the council. “Nobody’s going to come to the police department paying $16 an hour.”

Chief Ford says that the department currently has no prospects for new officers.

“Eventually we’ll either be paying out lots of overtime to the guys we’ve got,” said Chief Ford.

He said that paying overtime only lasts until the officers get tired and move on to other departments where they will earn the same amount for fewer hours.

The police chief warned that the officer shortage could lead to a cut in law enforcement coverage in the city. Fayette currently has 24-hour coverage. “I can guarantee at that point, once we cut down, everybody out there who we watch for is going to know we’re not there,” he said. “I would like to avoid having to do that.”

East Ward Alderwoman Stephanie Ford said the personnel committee discussed the matter and approved sending it to the council for further consideration.

The inability to recruit new officers underscores a larger problem of low pay for city employees. “We’ve heard this on a couple of different occasions for some of our positions,” said East Ward Alderman Joe Parisi.

The budget process began last week when submissions were due from all city departments. The council’s first budget meeting will occur at 6 p.m. on Tuesday, June 7 at City Hall. 

Public Works Director Danny Dougherty also told the council that he expects to ask for significant funds for replacing electrical poles throughout the city. “I would like to spend $1 million on poles within the next year,’ he said.

Many poles throughout the city are in need of replacement. On Saturday, May 7, city crews worked until almost midnight after an electric pole fell over. A crew from Salisbury was called in to aid the city.

The city currently holds more than $3 million in its electric fund.

The budget process must be finalized and approved by the city council before July 1, when the new fiscal year begins.