The El Dorado City Council Finance Committee is scheduled to meet at noon today in the second-floor conference room of City Hall.
On the agenda are a review of the financials from April and year-to-date budget adjustments that will need to be considered for a vote during the council's regular meeting on Thursday.
The finance committee is also expected to revisit a request from the El Dorado Police Department to boost salaries in order to address a shortage in the ranks of uniformed personnel.
The request from Police Chief Kenny Hickman has come amid preparations by the El Dorado Civil Service Commission and the city's police and fire departments to present a second round of civil service exams in July.
The spring testing cycle was held April 3 - 5 and drew only one entry-level applicant for the EPD.
The candidate passed all phases of testing -- written, oral interview and physical -- and was hired by the police department, who, at the time, had six vacancies to fill.
A certified officer was later brought on board, EPD Chief Kenny Hickman told civil service commissioners last month, adding that the officer came from a smaller police department and had six years of experience.
The EPD has a total of 52 slots for uniformed personnel and Hickman said there is no existing eligibility list for certified officers.
Police officers and firefighters who pass the civil service exams, but are not immediately hired by the EPD or El Dorado Fire Department due to a lack of vacancies, remain on eligibility lists for up to a year and the departments pull from the lists to fill vacancies.
Immediately following the April testing period, the ECSC agreed that a change was in order for marketing and recruiting strategies for the police and fire departments.
"I've talked to both chiefs, but the police department is where we need to get our numbers up," ECSC chairman Toddy Pitard said.
One idea upon which the group agreed was to target candidates with a military background.
The next civil service testing cycle has been scheduled for July 24.
The exams will be open only to entry-level candidates for the police and fire departments. Promotional exams will not be administered.
The EFD was able to fill vacancies and offer full promotions as a result of the testing cycle in April.
Chief Chad Mosby said the department will still participate in the summer testing cycle.
Salary boost
In the meantime, the EPD has also reached out to the city's finance committee with a request for a salary increase to attract and retain talent and compete with other local police departments in the region.
The committee convened a specially-called meeting on May 18 to discuss the matter.
Referring to the dismal results of the EPD civil service exams in April, City Council Member and Finance Committee Chairman Vance Williamson, opened the meeting matter-of-factly.
"We've got a problem," Williamson said. "Eventually, we'll start seeing attrition due to retirement and there are bidding wars for police officers."
Starting/base pay for officers at the EPD is $18.08. Time as a certified officer, college degrees and law enforcement certificate levels all contribute to an increase in starting pay.
Officers with prior experience receive immediate credits toward their base pay.
A wage increase of just over 12% would bring the EPD up to par with comparable police departments and communities in the region, Williamson said.
"That'll still be on the low end," Williamson said. "Since we've started this discussion, two other police departments have done the same thing."
"I'm all for it, but is it enough? It seems like we're treading water," Council Member Judy Ward said.
Council Member Buddy McAdams made a similar statement, saying, "That was my question: is it enough?"
Hickman and Fire Chief Chad Mosby have said interest in law enforcement and fire service is waning across the country.
On May 18, Hickman said 19 applicants took the civil service exam in 2019, noting that the number was down from previous years and has not even approached 19 since then.
Hickman also said only two candidates have successfully passed the civil service exam within the past two years.
Nine of the last 10 hires at the EPD have been certified officers from other departments, Hickman said.
"That's how we've been able to sustain, hiring officers who are already certified," EPD Capt. Jason Dumas said.
Added Hickman, "The advantage of (hiring certified officers) is they bring a little bit of knowledge from their department and other areas of law enforcement and that helps us."
Hickman said attrition at the EPD has slowed significantly in recent years but vacancies are rising.
"We had been hovering around four to five shortages. Now it's six to seven. We had some proactive programs we had to shut down because of the shortages," the police chief said. "I think that would have been beneficial to us."
In an effort to bring the EPD to full staff, Hickman said the department is not only looking to attract new candidates but also to retain existing officers.
"We've got some very good officers here and we want to keep them," he told city officials.
Hickman has said law enforcement agencies are experiencing similar issues nationwide.
Employment shortages in law enforcement have been attributed to higher pay in the private sector, negative perceptions of policing and other factors.
To help combat the problem, Hickman said the EPD is looking to put together an employment package that is attractive to entry-level candidates, as well as certified officers who may be looking to move to other police departments.
Other police departments are also bolstering their employment packages, Williamson and Hickman said.
"The competition is stiff. Some departments offer bonuses. I'm not in favor of that. I feel like if you have that money, you want to keep it and spread it around," Hickman said.
After further discussion, Williamson agreed to work with Micah Larry, of Emrich and Scroggins, LLP, the city's treasurer, to crunch some numbers to see if the city can comfortably meet the EPD's request.