Nashville loses 5 officers to other agencies

Nashville Police Department Chief J.T. Winstead told the Town Council this week that five police officers have recently resigned from the department to work for agencies that are paying more money.

Winstead told council members on Tuesday that there were nearby law enforcement agencies offering annual salaries $8,000 to $10,000 more than what officers are being paid in Nashville.

He also said that a supplemental health coverage provision was removed from the employee handbook. This issue was recently brought to his attention by police department employees who recently had to pay out-of-pocket for expenses related to childbirth not covered by the town of Nashville's health insurance provider. At the time these officers were hired by the police, language regarding supplemental coverage was included in the employee handbook, Winstead said.

"I felt like it was my job to voice their concerns to you all," Winstead told the council.

Town Manager Randy Lansing said the supplement called for reimbursement of up to $300. He said the seldom used benefit was not included in the current fiscal year budget.

In the fiscal year 2023-24 budget passed by the council, the town's police officers received at 7.75 percent pay increase, comprised of a 3.5 percent pay increase and a 4.25 percent cost-of-living adjustment.

A major sticking point in the council budget talks this spring was meeting salary recommendations for police officers and firefighters cited in a salary study that compared Nashville's salaries to those of nearby municipal and county governments.

In order to cover the salary increases and other cost increases, the council raised property taxes by three cents per $100 valuation. According to Town Manager Randy Lansing, a higher tax increase would have been necessary to cover the full salary increase of over 12.25 percent recommended by the salary study.

That study showed that Nashville's average pay is significantly below what other municipalities are paying. Data from 10 neighboring local governments show that Nashville is paying about $8,000 less per year for police officers and about $14,000 less for firefighters.

That study's data was gathered before those other municipalities named in the study had approved budgets for the current fiscal year which began July 1.

According to Zip Recruiter, as of July 26, the average annual pay for a police officer in Nashville is $48,806 a year, approximately $23.46 an hour.

"While ZipRecruiter is seeing salaries as high as $85,298 and as low as $28,278, the majority of police officer salaries currently range between $37,100 to $57,500, with top earners making $75,099 annually in Nashville," according to a recent study of the area's law enforcement salaries conducted by the website.

"Based on recent job postings on ZipRecruiter, the police officer job market in both Nashville, N.C., and the surrounding area is very active."

Winstead's presentation came during the public comment segment of the meeting and was not on the meeting agenda. No action was taken by the council at the meeting.

"I hate to see them leave. But I can certainly understand that they want to provide for their families," Mayor Brenda Brown said during the meeting.

In June, documents related to the 2023-24 fiscal year budget showed there were 22 police officers in the Nashville Police Department.