Murphy – The bidding war for police officers continues in western North Carolina.
The Cherokee County Board of Commissioners’ recent decision to adopt a countywide pay plan adjustment forced Murphy officials to amend the town’s pay plan, thereby increasing operational expenses.
The Murphy Town Council voted to amend the pay scale for police officers after learning that a few cops were expected to jump ship to the sheriff’s office following adoption of the county’s new pay plan at the end of last month.
The town’s and the county’s pay plans each establish a scale that allows for raises. In order to maintain the scale, officers across the board must receive a pay adjustment if starting pay for new officers increases.
The county’s pay plan adjustment increased pay for new deputies more than $6,000 per year, with a starting rate of $18.43 per hour. That hourly rate was nearly $3 higher than Murphy Police Department’s starting pay for new officers, prompting town officials to make a quick decision at the July 6 council meeting.
Murphy’s new plan pays officers a starting salary of $40,407 per year, which is $2,000 more than what new deputies would earn with the sheriff’s office. The adjustment increases Murphy’s yearly expenses by about $97,000.
“Murphy has added two police officer positions since 2018, increasing our force, and we did it without a tax increase,” Town Manager Chad Simons said. “We’ve invested in our police department.”
Both Murphy and the sheriff’s office pay more than Andrews Police Department, which used to pay the most for new officers in Cherokee County prior to the pay plan adjustments.
Andrews officials previously raised starting pay for police officers to $17.50 per hour in hopes of building up the force, which has a budget for eight members but hasn’t climbed above five in the last three years. All three law enforcement agencies in Cherokee County have been competing to keep up with the pay scale at the Cherokee Indian Police Department, which is rumored to be considering another increase.
The increase in pay at Murphy and the sheriff’s office will certainly make it difficult for Andrews officials to recruit and retain members if town aldermen choose to replenish the police department, which is down to one officer following the security camera incident that happened in April.
“We’re talking about boosting [the starting pay] up even higher,” Mayor James Reid said last week, signaling that the board may want to maintain a municipal police force.