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Police chief proposes 10% raise funded largely by sales-tax proceeds; shifts vehicle purchases to fleet-leasing
Summary
Police Chief Boyd told the board he plans to use sales-tax proceeds to fund a 10% pay increase for sworn officers and to remove vehicle capital from the general fund by adopting a fleet-leasing model; the department warned of rising jail costs and continuing sworn vacancies.
Police Chief Boyd told the board that the department’s FY26 submission is structured to minimize pressure on the general fund by shifting recurring capital and some large service contracts into other funding mechanisms and by using sales-tax proceeds to fund pay increases for sworn officers.
Boyd said he intends to request a 10% pay increase for sworn officers and to use sales-tax proceeds to cover most of the cost; he estimated the sales-tax portion available for raises would be about $1,400,000. Boyd said the 10% request is “a start” but acknowledged it will not fully close a roughly 20% gap between Fort Smith starting pay and some regional competitors (he cited state police starting pay as materially higher). Boyd said officers’ starting pay in Fort Smith is about $50,000 and that state-level pay can exceed $65,000.
To reduce future capital pressure on the general fund, Boyd said he removed vehicle capital requests and moved toward a fleet‑leasing program. He said the department expects to use prior board-approved capital and future resale proceeds to seed a leasing program that would rotate vehicles and eventually be self-sustaining.
Boyd also flagged jail costs as an upward pressure, noting that monthly jail expenses were over $100,000 in recent months and could push the department’s jail budget well beyond the $575,000–$800,000 range previously discussed if the current trend continued. He said he is working with the district court and prosecutor to seek ways to reduce that trend.
On staffing, Boyd reported sworn vacancies remain a challenge: the department reported several dozen vacancies in sworn ranks across recent months and noted attrition to larger agencies. He said the department is on track with a 10% holdback that is expected to return roughly $2,400,000 to the general fund for 2025.
The board asked Boyd for a phased approach on large capital items such as a planned regional training site (the board had previously discussed a roughly $1,250,000 placeholder for the site); Boyd said several design options and phasing plans are being studied and that some design work has already been paid from sales-tax funds. The chief asked the board to consider prioritizing EMS-environmental monitoring equipment ($143,000) this cycle while deferring the larger training-facility spend.
