BONNYVILLE – The Town of Bonnyville’s council has agreed to increase the starting wage of a community peace officer (CPO) position by 22 per cent in hopes of attracting and retaining an officer for the municipality.
The Town has been actively recruiting for the one and only CPO position that has remained vacant since January.
Information put forward by administration notes that although there has been some interest in the municipal CPO position, the wage grid for the position is posing a challenge in attracting good candidates.
At a regular council meeting on June 28, council heard that a review of wages offered to CPOs at four other surrounding municipalities is 22 per cent higher than the starting wage being offered by the Town of Bonnyville.
After a six-year period, the wage offered by the Town remains 20 per cent lower than its surrounding counterparts.
The starting salary offered by the Town was previously set at $61,812 and capped out at $78,889.52.
The average salary for CPOs in the area determined by the Town’s administration is $75,652.62 to start and tops out at $95,052.05.
“Anytime we are this far removed from the labour market, it makes it extremely hard to recruit and is one of the major contributing factors to the revolving door that we have seen over the last little while with CPOs,” said Coun. Brian McEvoy.
With many councillors voicing their agreement, Coun. Neil Langridge added the lack of a municipal peace officer has been noticed by community members and has resulted in complaints being made.
A CPO is responsible for all bylaw and traffic related incidents for the Town. While this position has remained empty, the task of enforcing bylaws has fallen on the Town’s Planning and Development Department.
“Speaking as a member of the police committee... We look towards the RCMP to help and assist us, and I think we all agree on the committee as well that the RCMP are better suited dealing with some of the more severe stuff in our community that requires their attention and we have definitely missed the presence of a CPO,” said Langridge.
Council unanimously approved the motion to increase the starting wage for the municipality’s CPO by 22 per cent.
The wage increase will add an estimated $17,000 per year to the annual salary budget per CPO. This roughly translates to a $78,812 starting salary.
As the CPO position has not been filled so far this year, the 2022 budget will be sufficient to cover the increase in salary and benefits, according to administration.
Earlier this year, council had made the decision to not to fill a second peace officer position. Funding set aside for a second CPO has already been reallocated, according to the Town’s CAO Bill Rogers.
