05-14-25 - Council Special Work Session Agenda

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18 The most recent review revealed the number of agencies providing speciflc recruitment packages had declined and agencies appeared to be shifting towards a total employment package. Meaning these job postings highlight their police officer positions have a work-life balance with schedules that give more days off or have every other weekend off, access to wellness programs for officers and their family, take home vehicles, modern facilities, and current tools and technology. The postings also focus on wages and the amount of paid time-off employees earn. In recent years, many police departments have signiflcantly increased wages to retain existing officers and to recruit applicants from the limited number of eligible applicants. Although there are many factors to consider when determining wages and total compensation, the simplest metric that can be used for comparison is the start wage and the top wage. Staff assessed 2025 wages for comparable police departments and found two key points. First, the starting wage for Lino Lakes officers is better than average and the City is well positioned to hire new officers with no experience. Second, although the initial pay is competitive, at the top wage Lino Lakes officers are the lowest paid in the group and are approximately 8% below the average. The sergeant unit is similarly the lowest paid in their group at the top wage and is approximately 6% below the average. Again, there are other factors that affect an officer ’s total compensation such as pay incentives for advanced education, shift differential, instructor pay, availability pay, longevity pay, and holiday pay to name a few. Staff evaluated the longevity pay and holiday pay of the same comparable group to determine the effects on total compensation. In the comparable group 15 of the 24 agencies had a form of longevity pay, and 17 of the 24 had some potential form of payment for holiday pay. When these two factors were considered, the results slightly improved. 2025 - COMPARISON GROUP Start 4 years 6 years 8 years Top Pay Total Comp Top Avg Minimum $35.71 $46.84 $48.51 $48.51 $50.40 $107,619.20 Maximum $43.33 $52.27 $54.15 $56.81 $56.81 $122,443.52 Average $38.85 $49.75 $51.19 $52.23 $53.78 $116,113.38 Lino Lakes PD $42.22 $47.06 $49.67 $49.67 $49.67 $109,447.85 % Difference Avg 7.97% -5.72% -3.06% -5.16% -8.27% -6.09% % Difference Min 15.42% 0.47% 2.34% 2.34% -1.47% 1.67% % Difference Max -2.63% -11.07% -9.02% -14.37% -14.37% -11.87%