The regularly scheduled Price City Council Meeting on Wednesday, June 26, ran into a multi-hour discussion regarding the setting of the budget for the 2024-2025 fiscal year. The discussion was spearheaded by Price City Police Captain Brandon Ratcliffe, who spoke regarding the recent changes to the budget the council was set to approve that day.

Captain Ratcliffe opened the discussion by stating that he respected the Council Members, and understood that the Council had to make tough decisions; also that he was not asked to be there by anyone, but that he asked members of the department who wanted to be there to be in attendance as he felt it was important for the police department to be heard in their concerns regarding the budget.

Ratcliffe then laid out why the department was in attendance, explaining that a recent emergency budget meeting changed what the police department was led to believe would be a raise this year, something that was promised to them in part with a multiyear plan to bring the department’s salaries up to standards.

It was explained to the Council Members that they always refer to Price City as a “corporation” but that the most important part of a corporation is the employees. Ratcliffe illustrated this by stating,” You have to prioritize your departments, they are all valuable but not equal.”

Captain Ratcliffe then dove into the topic of retention, stating that a recent move by the council of adding a 401(k) matching policy was good, but only benefited those who were employed by the city for more than 10 years, something that made it so only five out of the 20 employees of the department could benefit from. Ratcliffe then spoke on how in the past four years, the department has lost 13 employees, 11 officers and two secretaries.

Ratcliffe laid out the story of a secretary at the department who said that if her wages were fixed, she would stay. Ratcliffe provided the council with a resignation letter from the secretary, outlining her reasons for leaving, saying the weight of the positions was not worth the wages.

To illustrate this point, Ratcliffe showed a few of the documents that the secretaries have to handle, such as the National Criminal Information Center Code Manual which she was in charge of inputting, a manual that is 382 pages long, as well as handling GRAMMA records requests among other duties.

Next, Captain Ratcliffe spoke on another current predicament of the department, the increase in beginning pay that was made to attract new officers. This increase created a bottleneck effect, making it so some new officers were making more than their direct supervisors, which Ratcliffe explained creates problems because direct supervisors can be sued for the actions of those underneath them.

To illustrate the level of trauma experienced by police officers, Captain Ratcliffe explained to the Council Members that the State Legislature had passed a bill that all first responders and their spouses must be provided with mental health services, which shows not only the firsthand mental drain of the job but also the secondhand trauma felt by spouses and family members of first responders.

To further drive home this point, Captain Ratcliffe had everyone in attendance participate in an activity where those in attendance would stand if they had to deal with a specific scenario in their job. These scenarios included situations like

• Have you or your spouse had to miss a birthday, holiday, or other family event due to your job as a law enforcement officer?
• Have you or your family’s life ever been threatened due to your job?
• Have you or your spouse ever been involved in a child’s death as a part of your job?

To each of these questions, almost every officer in attendance stood in response, illustrating the point of the officers shouldering a great load to protect the community, and eliciting an emotional reaction from some in attendance.

Captain Ratcliffe ended his presentation by stating that by not paying the officers, the community will pay for it through poor retention, poor quality and poor service due to the good and well-trained officers leaving for better pay.

Taking the podium next was Sgt. Shawn Sackett opened his comments by saying,” The real issue is I’ve heard a thank you. I’ve heard it will be discussed. But for four years, we have not only come to you with a problem but multiple Solutions.” Sackett continued,” And then your promise, was we would get that six or eight percent, whatever that was to help compensate in the next fiscal years. To put us at that wage, that was your word. Price is a place where a handshake and a word still mean something to people. That’s what’s important. When you have people come to you and you promise them as the elected officials that you’ll address something. When you don’t, that’s where the ripple comes in, right?”

Mayor Micheal Kourianos responded to the officers, explaining the council’s point of view that the proposed raise was only proposed with nothing concrete and that the raises had to be ratcheted down because of the significant impact on the “corporation.”

Following these comments, other members of the police department spoke, with one officer stating,” My issue is that we have people here now. That we might lose if we don’t look at these issues now, not later. I mean, it’s been four years. It’s time to look at it now. I love my job, I love the city and I love being here. Well, I’m tired of training new people. Because the people that would get trained that are good, quality officers are leaving for other opportunities.”

Other officers within the department shared their thoughts on the issues as well. Some stated that because of the pay scale, they were looking for other, more well-compensated jobs. One spouse talked about the emotional trauma carried by these officers because of what they see on the job.

Kelly Maynes took the floor next, stating,” One of the things that brought me here was the Integrity And, The professionalism of Price City’s Police Department. Our department has a strong reputation as one of the most professional departments in our area.” Maynes continued, stating,” We do more work than any of the agencies around us at times. I would dare to say we are doing two to three times the work than the agencies around us.”

Maynes stated the issue clearly,” We just want to be fairly compensated for the hard work we put in.”

Following this, Council Member Tanner Richardson spoke, saying he would be willing to not pass the budget today and spend the remainder of the week working with the department and the council to find an equitable solution to not let it slip through the cracks again.

Council Member Joe Christman said that if the budget were to be approved, they need to open it up again after July to look for a solution to this problem.

There was a sense of urgency in the room to pass the budget before the July 1 deadline, as if they did not accomplish this the state would withhold taxes from the city

After this the public comment period closed, and the motion was made to approve the budget for the 2024-2025 fiscal year, with the caveat that they would revisit the budget after July. When the item went to a vote, the lone dissenting vote was from Council Member Richardson.

Captain Ratcliffe provided a statement to Castle Country Radio following the meeting which read:

“We understand not accepting the budget would’ve put the council in a time crunch, but their vote to accept the budget sends a strong message to all.

A week ago, the council became aware of budget issues and it was then that a decision was made to “see who leaves” rather than work on a solution.

Nearly four years ago we presented the problems and possible solutions to the city council. The following four years resulted in losing 13 employees and we still have the same problems. It is apparent to us our elected officials have been and are still influenced by those who are not acting in the best interest of our community.

We want our community members to know we love and support them and we feel that from them as well. We understand this is a community issue and encourage our community to become more informed about this situation, whether you support us or not, and let your voice be heard. When we continue to have officers leave for better pay and benefits, they are not only leaving this department, but sometimes this community as well.

For there to be growth, there has to be change. I challenge our counsel to speak with their actions, be progressive, accept an equitable pay scale that is specific to the Police Department, and stop following dinosaur-aged practices that we have repeatedly shown to be ineffective.”

The first scheduled Price City Council meeting after July is set for Wednesday, August 14, at 5:30 p.m. in Price City Hall.