As the budget period for cities and counties closes in for the next fiscal year, there’s one area that the new Jefferson mayor wants to examine further.

Mayor Matt Gordon is in charge of the local police department and he feels there needs to be an increase in wages. He is proposing a $10,000 per officer wage increase for a total an additional $80,000 expense. Gordon says retention has been an issue for the past three years, with a 180-percent turnover rate.

“I do believe that public safety has to be priority one, and part of that is figuring out how do we fix the retention. We did try the incentive program (for retention) that didn’t seem to be the cure for it. At that time we were looking at wages. But anytime something is going to cost some money, it’s hard to get with the program and to fall in line with that. But at this point in time I don’t think we have a choice. We need to really look at the wages to retain people.”

Police Chief Mark Clouse has previously said they hire new officers, get them trained through the Iowa Law Enforcement Academy and then within a few months or years, they are hired away by larger agencies. Gordon notes there are additional training opportunities for officers to grow and become more involved in the community. 

While the City’s budget is almost finalized for the 2021 fiscal year, Gordon is looking for the increase to come in the following fiscal year.