Local News

Hefty Pay Hike for City Employees

(La Porte, IN) - City employees in La Porte are receiving a healthy pay increase.

 

The salary increases approved last night by the City Council are designed to stop high turnover at the police department and prevent future high turnover in other departments.

 

The salary increases, including longevity pay, amount to about a 17-percent increase in earnings next year for police and firefighters, said La Porte Clerk-Treasurer Courtney Parthun.

 

The annual salary for police chief and fire chief, as an example, is going up to $75,000. A probationary officer at the police department will start at $50,000, while a patrolman will be paid $55,000.

 

Mayor Tom Dermody said the increases would make La Porte more competitive with salaries for similar positions at other municipalities, along with the earning potential offered in the private sector. In addition, the idea is to keep the police and fire departments at full strength. Staffing levels sagging for years at the police department started being restored after the city provided a minor increase last year.

 

“When you can go to other communities and make $20,000 more, we have to be competitive.  Police and fire are the cornerstones of building our community and, if you don’t have that, nothing else matters,” he said.

Most other city employees will receive about a 9 to 10-percent increase in pay. Dermody said the pay increases would cost $750,000 in each of the next two years.

 

The money is coming from the $11 million the city is receiving in American Rescue Plan funds adopted by Congress to help communities recover from the impact of COVID-19.

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