SCOTT CITY COUNCIL APPROVES MEASURE TO HIKE PAY OF POLICEMAN

SCOTT CITY -- The Scott City Council approved "classification increases" for police department employees Monday, which will give most of them pay raises.

Five council members voted in favor of the increases, but Councilman Jay Cassout said raises shouldn't be granted in the police department unless they could also be given to other city employees.

Voting in favor of the increases were council members Jerry Cummins, Edith Davidson, Jim McClintock, Brenda Moyers and John Rogers. Council members Ron Oller and John Smith did not attend Monday's meeting.

After voting against the increases, Cassout told other council members he didn't think the city could afford the raises.

"I think the next administration is going to have a tough time trying to come up with the money for these raises," he said. "I just don't think the money is going to be there."

Cassout is not running for re-election in April.

Mayor Shirley Young said the classification increases mean about a $5,000 annual increase in the police department budget.

But Cassout said when overtime pay is included, the figure would be higher. He said the city needed a new fire truck and money for street repairs, and these projects should come before police department raises.

But he contended that if police department salaries were increased, the salaries of other city employees should be raised also.

The classification, or "step" increases, mean raises for two sergeants, one senior patrolman, four patrolmen, three dispatchers and one clerk/dispatcher. Each would receive about a $500 increase in their annual salary.

The mayor said the police chief requested not to be given a raise. The passage of the measure also grants a raise to the town's fire chief.

The mayor said the raises bring the police department salaries in line with those in nearby departments, "some that are even smaller than ours."

The classification increases would mean a starting patrolman would earn $12,716 during the first year of employment instead of $12,162. Other increase are: sergeant, from $15,479 to $16,032; senior patrolman, from $13,268 to $13,821; and dispatchers, from $10,504 to $11,057. The clerk/dispatcher's salary would go from $11,610 to $12,162.

No raises for other city employees were approved.

In other business, the city will apply for a Community Development Block Grant that would pay for improvements in streets and homes in the south end of the city. The grant would allow for rehabilitation of 20 homes and streets from Oak Street to Highway 61 and the south city limits.

A representative from the Bootheel Regional Planning Commission in Malden told council members Monday they would have to survey the residents of the area to find out what improvements are most needed. Council member Edith Davidson said she would conduct the survey.

The mayor said if the grant is approved, it would mean hundreds of thousands of dollars that would be spent for improvements in private and city-owned property.

The council also approved purchasing a computer that would assist the city staff when processing water bills at a cost of about $5,000. The present computer is malfunctioning.