Even as Jefferson police chief Mark Clouse was creating an incentive plan to keep young JPD officers in the department, an officer with two years on the force “jumped ship” for the Greene County sheriff’s office.
When Clouse first presented his recruitment/retention incentive plan to the council four weeks ago, he anticipated the departure of two or three young officers. Officer Caleb Jans wasn’t one of them.
However, after deputy Kirk Hammer left the sheriff’s office, Jans reached out to sheriff Jack Williams asking for the job, Clouse said. Williams was glad to have him and expedited the process to have Jans on the work schedule for the holidays, leaving the JPD even more short-staffed than it was.
Clouse now expects to have only two experienced duty officers by mid-January. He hopes the incentive plan approved by the city council Tuesday will make hiring a little easier and close the revolving door of the JPD.
The Jefferson city council at its regular meeting Tuesday approved a student loan incentive for incoming officers who have already earned a college degree in criminal justice. The city will pay $200 per month, up to $9,600 over a four-year contract, on student loan principle. Once the officer fulfills the contract, the city can end the payment or continue it.
The JPD is also offering a $2,000 hiring bonus paid up front. The money will help with moving expenses, housing and utility deposits, etc.
If an officer leaves before the four-year contract is finished, he or his new employer will need to reimburse the city for the student loan incentive and the hiring bonus, along with the cost of the Law Enforcement Academy. The payments will be prorated against the time remaining on the contract. If the new employer is “buying out” the contract, it will be as one lump sum. If the officer is paying it, he’ll pay $350 a month, not the $100 a month that’s in the current policy.
The county will pay about $9,000 to buy-out Jans’ contract with the city. Jans’ annual wages will increase by about $3,000.
The JPD is unable at this time to increase base pay for officers; that will be considered for the contract that will begin July 1, 2021.
City council members Harry Ahrenholtz and Dave Sloan worked with chief Clouse and captain Heath Enns on the incentive/retention plan. “Hopefully this will get us to a point we can retain officers more than the two or three years we’re experiencing now,” Ahrenholtz said.
“We really think this is the best way to start,” Sloan added.
Clouse has said it generally takes about a year for an officer to become fully functional at the job.
In other business, the city council approved spending $45,500 to replace the roof on the Jefferson public library. Grell Roofing of Fort Dodge will do the work. The work on the original Carnegie library may be done during the winter; the breezeway and the one-story addition must wait until warmer weather because of the material used.
The council approved a 5-year capital improvement plan for the airport that will allow an extension of the runway to 4,000 feet. Completion of the project is anticipated in 2021. Total cost is $1,410,100, with $141,010 of that being local funds and the remaining being federal.
The council approved continuing with Wellmark for its health insurance benefit despite an increase of 18.95 percent for the coming year. City clerk Diane Kennedy reminded the council the increases were less than 10 percent for the past three years. The premium increased 13 percent for 2015, but not at all in 2013 and 2014. “Over a 5-7 year average, we’ve come out pretty good on increases,” she said.
Kennedy said the biggest reason for the increase for next year was claim activity in 2018. “We still aren’t seeing increases like I hear about in other places,” she said.
