Unified Police Dept. Feeling Budget Pressure From Four Mayors
Jun 3, 2019, 5:26 PM | Updated: 5:33 pm
SALT LAKE COUNTY, Utah – The Unified Police Department is feeling some pressure from the mayors of four of the cities it serves. They say they want police officers to be paid more, but they’re also against further budget increases.
The mayors of Taylorsville, Midvale, Holladay and Millcreek recently sent a letter to Sheriff Rosie Rivera. They say they’re happy with UPD’s services, but they would like a 10% pay raise for their officers. In order to do this, the mayors are proposing a 25% cut to a different area of UPD’s budget called “regional services.”
Rivera addressed the issue on KSL’s Dave & Dujanovic radio show Monday morning.
“We are looking and looking at everything we possibly can to see and make sure we’re efficient in the budget and transparent,” said Rivera. “So if there are monies there, we will find it and pay our officers more. If there’s not then we will reduce the amount of raises to make sure our budget is balanced and everyone is happy.”
UPD also recently asked Midvale City for an increase of 20%, or about $1.5 million, to fund the police department.
A spokesperson for Midvale City said they’ve been working together and UPD has now decreased that amount to around $820,000.
In previous council meetings, Midvale has said they would need to cut items from the city’s budget or raise property taxes to come up with that money. They also discussed forming their own police department, although now say that’s not currently a consideration.
There is a budget meeting and a city council meeting about the issue on Tuesday.
