Wage increases for police included in budget

DOVER-FOXCROFT – Residents will have an opportunity next month to slow the revolving door in the Police Department.

For years, the town has hired and trained recruits only to lose them a year or two later to better-paying law enforcement jobs elsewhere, according to Police Chief Dennis Dyer.

Earlier this year, selectmen were petitioned by a group of residents to do a comparison of the Police Department’s salaries with communities comparable in size.

That survey, which was expanded by selectmen to include the salaries of all town employees, revealed the town was dragging bottom.

“We were on the low end in almost every category of all town employees,” Town Manager Jack Clukey said Thursday. In fact, Dover-Foxcroft employees with 20 or more years of service were receiving less than the entry level pay in some other communities, he noted.

Those results prompted selectmen to propose a new wage schedule that offers classifications and merit steps and is consistent from department to department. The changes in the scale are included in the proposed 2007-08 budget.

As an example of the proposed changes, an entry-level position in the Police Department would increase from $13.15 to $14.15 per hour, Clukey said.

“It’s real difficult to keep good officers when you cannot compete with the pay scales of other departments about the same size,” Dyer said Thursday.

Dyer said trained police officers who inquire about a job with his department “turn around and walk out the door” when he informs them of the starting pay.

In fact, his department’s acting sergeant, David Wilson, will leave later this month for a patrol position with the Piscataquis County Sheriff’s Department, he said. Dyer said he doesn’t blame Wilson for leaving a $12.45 per hour job for a $15.97 per hour job with better benefits.

“All we’re doing now is being a training ground for other departments,” Dyer said. He noted that state law allows communities to recoup some of the training costs of the officers who leave. He said some of his former officers have left for the Maine State Police as well as other police departments throughout the state.

Clukey hopes residents will recognize the department’s dilemma and support the proposed municipal budget.

“It’s very important to allow the town to compensate appropriately,” Clukey said. “We’d like to be competitive for quality employees and have them stay with us and allow the town to benefit from the training and experience.”