I think it is great that the Police in Simi are getting a good raise. We need more good union jobs like the one's the Simi PD have in order to raise peoples standard of living. When people are well paid they can buy a car and a house and goods and in turn that helps business and in turn that means more tax money etc.

The next thing we will see is proposed tax and fee increases to cover these union contracts. While public safety employees will have a happy x-mas, everybody else will be left paying the bill. I don't see how we are raising the standard of living by jacking up the pay of public employees while the taxpayers are taking pay and benefit cuts and being asked to fork over even more in taxes to pay for less services. This contract gives 20% pay raises over four years, on top of the already outrageous benefit packages that include things like 90% pensions at age 50. It is a ripoff to taxpayers.

And notice that we have dozens of unfilled positions because the department can't afford to fully staff. That is because we keep giving overly generous pay increases to the cops we already have, which makes it too expensive to hire enough cops to work the streets. Overpaying these guys and jacking up their pension benefits doesn't keep our communities safe because it reduces the number of police officers we can afford to hire and requires that the ones we have are forced to work excessive amounts of overtime.

Where is our city council to claim they are being prudent with our money when they approved a 7% increase in the middle of a financial crisis with rising unemployment?

This will cause them to cut back on how many police we can afford to employ immediately.

The city council didn't say anything about the work environment in this story. Teachers in LAUSD get paid more but many educators prefer to to teach here anyways. I think the city council should consider that when they give out raises to staff.

And the cops will be back again for more money...this never ends....how much are top cops making...with overtime?? In many cities they make over $100,000, which mean their pensions will be in that range because cops get 90% pensions at 30 years, which will mean almost every cop in simi valley can retire with about a $100,000 yearly pension at age 51 if they start at age 21....

Is it posted anywhere the average pay for a Simi Valley police officer, teacher, and other government employees?

Check out the link.

According to this job posting an officer with SVPD makes between $56,676 and $78,180 annally. Keep in mind that higher level positions pay more. For example, you can rise to become a sergeant, lieutenant, captain, etc. This is the compensation for a basic entry level position (no degree required). It also excludes any overtime compensation, which I imagine could be significant. If you work in the canine unit you get an extra $589 per month, detectives $100 per month, motors $100 per month, and if you are bilingual you get another $100 per month. The City also contributes $100 per month to your deferred compensation plan. If you have an Associates degree you get a 2.5% increase in salary, or if you have a Bachelors degree you get an additional 5%.

The posting also mentions that officers work a 4/10 schedule, which means they work 10 hours per day ten days per week. Having three days off a week is a pretty nice benefit, eh?

As far as benefits are concerned, officers get a 3% at 55 retirement, which provides a maximum 90% of final year salary after 30 years of service. The City pays the full cost of the pension, with no employee contribution required. Officers also do not qualify for social security, but at the same time pay no social security taxes (who needs it when you get 90% pay at retirement, plus it also lets you pocket up to $6,324 per year that would normally be deducted in Social Security taxes). After 25 years employees also get lifetime medical coverage for themselves and one dependent.

Officers get 21 days of paid leave, which increases to 26 days after five years. Plus there are 11 paid holidays (paid out at 10 hours). The City contributes up to $1,526.66 per month for employee health insurance. Dental and vision insurance is provided for free, plus a $100,000 life insurance policy. Each officer gets a $1,600 annual uniform allowance, and a few other miscellaneous benefits.

Sounds like a pretty good gig. So adding in the 7% pay raise a base level police officer can now earn up to $83,652 anually. If he works in the canine unit, has a bachelors degree, and is bilingual the base pay rises to $96,102. Add in a little overtime and it is no problem for a police officer to earn well into six figures. Of course, if that officer gets promoted to higher levels then compensation would rise accordingly. So it is easy to imagine that virtually all police officers will be promoted during the course of a 30 year career and retire with six figure pensions.

Anyone see the average pay for a Simi Valley police officer?

If you look at the City of Simi Valley fiscal year 2008-09 Budget it lists salary ranges for sworn positions as follows:

Police Officer Trainee: 49,649
Police Officer: 56,680 - 78,187
Police Sergeant: 74,131 - 102,148
Police Lieutenant: 98,724 - 127,160
Police Captain: 112,933 - 145,631
Chief of Police: 132,711 - 174,524

Keep in mind that these salaries are before the scheduled 7% increase. The police department has a personnel budget of $25,955,300, of which $14,115,500 is regular salaries. The overtime budget is $2,899,000. If you divide the overtime budget by the regular salaries budget overtime represents an incremental cost equivalent to 20% of regular salaries. So we can assume that, on average, police personnel earn about 20% of their annual salaries in additional overtime. So you can take the salaries above and increase them by 20%, plus the 7% increase to estimate what the average officer earns in annual compensation by pay grade. Which means that a police sargeant who is at the maximum pay scale, earning 20% in additional overtime pay, with a bachelors degree, plus adding in the new 7% pay increase should expect to earn around... $137,715!

Don't forget that the deluxe pension plan is also costing local taxpayers $4,457,500 per year, which represents the equivalent of 31.6% of salary. That means that it costs taxpayers $31,600 every year to just fund the pension plan for a police officer who has a base salary of $100,000 per year. Giving public employees 90% pay at retirement doesn't come cheap.

Bad News - your figures are APPALLING! I had no idea about the compensation rate. Is this the same for other cities? The county?

Like many other law enforcement agencies, the City of Simi Valley bases its compensation levels based on surveys of other departments. That being the case, it is clear that other departments are equally generous, otherwise there would be no basis for the latest round of pay increases. But it also results in a constant ratcheting up of pay and benefits, since any time a single department gets an increase then other departments are then compelled to match the increase. It no longer becomes an issue of whether compensation is fair or even rational, but rather whether a department can offer competitive wages and benefits with other departments based on a system where they are constantly striving to outbid each other. The only thing required to keep the cycle going are various city councils and boards of supervisors who are willing to continue to ratchet up public safety salaries and benefits. It is no secret that public safety unions contribute tremendous amounts of money to fund the political campaigns of politicians in order to keep the money flowing. All it takes is for one department to get a lucrative pay raise or benefit increase and all other departments then follow suit.

We only have to look to the recent attempts by the City of Ventura to add a half cent sales tax in order to increase public safety funding, supposedly to fill needed positions. After voters twice rejected tax increases the city moved forward with the controversial 911 fee. Once that fee was in place the first act by the council was to use those funds to award a 3 at 50 pension increase for firefighters that increased their pension benefits by 50%. Meanwhile the vacancies still exist. Now the firefighters management union wants the same deal, and the SEIU is in turn pushing for their own 2.7 at 55 contract. Both are arguing that it is only fair now that the firefighters have gotten their pension deal.

Now Sheriff Bob Brooks is suggesting a proposed county wide parcel tax in order to generate more money for public safety, arguing that he needs additional funds in order to fully staff his jails. Don't forget that his department waged an expensive legal battle against the the Board of Supervisors for many years in order to grab 100% of the half cent sales tax funds. The result was a windfall of revenues for public safety that led to years of double-digit increases in county public safety budgets throughout the 1990's. Brooks also fought a very public battle with Supervisors to increase pension benefits for Sheriffs Deputies.

It should be noted that the City of Vallejo recently declared bankruptcy, citing its excessive public safety contracts as the primary reason. They are now engaged in a legal battle with their local public safety unions who are trying to block the bankruptcy and force the city to instead increase taxes on local residents in order to sustain their lucrative contracts, which are among the most generous in the state. Given the fiscal condition of our state and local municipalities it isn't hard to imagine more cities and counties having difficulty sustaining these contracts.

I'm happy with how local public safety is going. Typical of this blog, we have a bunch of fringe complainers who whine all day, but fail to show an alternative or win a majority of public support.

It would seem their argument here is pay less to police officers while surrounding cities who pay more load up on talented police officers.

We want the best cops in Simi Valley, not in LA.

If you don't like it, run for office with your reduce police pay argument.

Then, we'll see what voters say.

So if I run for office and have an increase police pay argument, the voters should like me?

If you know it is good news feel free to provide numbers instead of just sliming people as anti-law enforcement.

How much does the average Simi Valley police office make? What about surrounding areas? How come it is so hard to find these numbers?

The more we pay each officer, the less police we can afford.

But if the city can pay for it, without cutting back on the amount of police on the street or cutting other vital services, it seems like an okay idea.

I get it. If someone asks questions they are anti-cop and hate American values.

Trinity:

Our cops deserve to be paid well. You are against paying them well, so yes you are anti-cop.

You are also anti-public safety.

Good News for Public Safety,

I agree with some of your sentiments but when you say "typical of this blog" you should be careful with your broad brush. As you know ( I can see your IP after all) we have many elected officials, staff members, party leaders, and community leaders that post here all of the time.

Many of these upstanding community members are from different political perspectives. There is no "typical" when you have so many different voices posting here.

The first comment on this entry was congratulating police officers on their raise. Did you see it?

I understand public safety is important to you and it is to me also.

That's why I want to know what the average pay of a police officer ( and other government employees) in different cities across Ventura County is currently. If Simi Valley police are being underpaid I will make that a headline on this blog.

I imagine Los Angeles doe pay more because of the working environment, but I would like to see facts before I reach conclusions.

I would also think that LA would have to pay more because we try to make our law enforcement professionals feel very supported here. It takes money, support, and working conditions to attract and retain the best employees.

Of course cops deserve to be paid well, but within reason. I simply don't understand this game of constantly comparing wages between jurisdictions and using this as the basis for how much we should pay our public safety personnel. It's a never-ending process, if you think about it. There will always be a jurisdiction that pays more than your's does, so where does it ever end?

We are at a place in our financing of local government services, including police officers and firefighters, where we have to put the brakes on runaway spending on salaries and benefits. It simply doesn't make sense anymore, and more importantly, we cannot afford it any longer.

By the way, I am one of those Brian mentions that works in local government and I have been very involved in salary and contract negotiations for many years and I think what's going on with police and firefighter salary and benefit increases is outrageous and the public should be alarmed.

We Can't Afford - thanks for your reasoned response. I'm tired of the knee-jerk reaction to public safety questions. It is done more to garner votes than to actually protect the public. Enough is enough.

I agree with Katie and We Can't Afford It. We need to scrutinize our governmental spending practices and budgets from top to bottom. No stone should be left unturned and there should be no sacred cows. Police and Fire are going to have to bear their share of the pain. That's all there is to it.

The City of Ventura, for one, needs a complete shake-up in terms of their elected officials. These guys are worse than the State Legislature. They are used to spending like there's no tomorrow and when they need more money to carry out their exorbitant spending habits, they simply cook up a new fee or raise charges and taxes on us poor citizens to cover the cost. They all need to go, as far as I'm concerned.

Almost everyone wants to pay police officers well, but if we disagree on the impacts of raising salaries on other city departments or total numbers of police we can afford that doesn't make someone against the police that do a great job protecting us in Simi Valley.

To state otherwise is a McCarthy type tactic that shows someone doesn't want to discuss things but only shout people down.

That being said, Simi Valley is a reasonably run city and likely can afford the pay raise if they approved it.

But to attack those for asking questions about the budget is disgusting behavior.