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Resident urges council to address Billings police pay after contract ratification
Summary
At public comment, Adam Combs said the recently ratified Billings Police union contract sets a starting pay of $32.33 per hour and provides 3% raises each year for three years; he argued Billings has a high violent-crime rate and lags on officer pay compared with other Montana cities and offered to provide his spreadsheet of FBI data and contracts.
Adam Combs of Ward 3 used his time during public comment to urge the council to take action on officer compensation following a recently ratified Billings Police Department union contract.
Combs said the contract — which the council ratified two weeks earlier — gives unit members a 3% raise each year for the next three years and sets a starting wage at $32.33 per hour. "This contract gave union members a 3% raise each year for the next 3 years," he said. "This put the BPD starting wage at $32.33 an hour."
Combs cited FBI violent-crime counts and claimed Billings had 920 violent crimes — which he said was higher than other large Montana cities — and argued that Billings responds to more calls for service while offering lower specialty and on-call pay than peer agencies. "We are all the second lowest paid in all of those," Combs said, urging the council to act within the next two years before the next contract cycle.
Combs offered to share a spreadsheet compiling FBI data and neighboring cities' union contracts to support his claims; the council did not take action on the subject during the meeting but heard his concerns during public comment.
What happens next: Combs encouraged council review of comparative pay and specialty compensation; any council action on departmental pay would follow staff and budget processes.
