Law Board agrees to 6.5% COLA for RCPD with contingent on cuts elsewhere

The Riley County Law Board ended its meeting Tuesday without a finalized budget as board members worked through how to fund cost of living adjustments requested by the Riley County Police Department. The initial proposal by RCPD in April was for an 8% COLA, with a realized budget increase of almost 9%. Over the past two months, the board has scaled that back to a 6.5% COLA and 7.4% overall increase, totaling $26.9 million. The city’s delegation on the board favored pushing the COLA down to 4%, with an overall realized budget increase of 6%, but were swayed by RCPD leadership and County Attorney Barry Wilkerson, who advocated that further cuts to the COLA could jeopardize RCPD’s ability to recruit staff.
Source: 1350 KMAN