Council adopts officer training reimbursement ordinance after debate over payback period

WICKLIFFE, Ohio — The Wickliffe City Council adopted Ordinance 2025-04 on March 10, 2025, creating a codified policy for payment and reimbursement of outside police training costs after a contested debate over how long officers must remain in city service to avoid repaying training costs.

Council members discussed an amendment to shorten the repayment obligation from four years to two years that was proposed by Councilman Thielman and seconded by Councilwoman Sloto. The amendment failed on a roll call that recorded opposing votes from Councilman Jaworski, Councilwoman Koski and Council President LaVonne and a yes vote from Councilwoman Saloto. The council then moved to adopt the ordinance as written.

The discussion focused on balancing retention incentives with the city’s desire to recoup training costs. Councilwoman Mikowski urged support for the measure by pointing to the police chief’s recommendation: “The police chief is in favor of this,” she said during debate. Councilman Gerhardtstein stressed the city already pays training-related expenses, including use of vehicles and wages while an officer attends a multi‑month academy.

Under the ordinance, the city may require repayment of specified training costs if an officer leaves before a set service period. During discussion council members cited the program’s limited ability to recoup full costs — “we're trying to claw back between $4,000 and $5,000,” a council member said — and noted that the reimbursement applies to outside academies; training provided by the Ohio State Highway Patrol (OSP) is not billed to the city.

A motion to adopt Ordinance 2025-04 was moved by Councilman Gerhardtstein and seconded by Councilman Georgi. The clerk recorded the following roll-call votes during the adoption: Duarte — Yes; Kosti — Yes; Levon — Yes; Saloto — No; Thielman — No. The transcript does not contain a complete roll-call record or an explicit final tally in the meeting text; the clerk’s partial roll call is recorded above.

The ordinance adds Chapter 149.06 to the codified ordinances of the city and establishes the city’s authority to pay for outside-training costs and seek reimbursement on the schedule set in the adopted text. Implementation details, including administrative procedures for collection of reimbursed amounts, are to be handled by city staff.

The amendment attempt and the subsequent adoption highlight the council’s competing priorities: incentivizing recruits with training support while protecting residents from subsidizing officers who depart soon after training.