McCordsville council adopts pay changes to retain police staff, adds executive assistant

McCordsville — The Town Council unanimously adopted Ordinance 031026 on March 10 to amend the town’s 2026 salary ordinance for the police department, a package officials said is intended to help retain and recruit officers.

Town staff said the revision adjusts how the town structures pay and increases some officer salaries to remain competitive with neighboring departments. The ordinance also updates several position titles that had not been reflected in the prior code and creates a new executive assistant position for the police department to relieve administrative load, staff said.

At the council meeting Tim (town staff) told the council the local police market is “very competitive” and the department currently has 19 officers. He said the changes were based on a regional comparison and internal title adjustments. Major Watts and other police leaders participated in the study that produced the recommendations.

Council conducted the required public hearing, moved to suspend rules, and approved the measure on first and second reading in a single meeting; the motion passed by voice vote 5-0.

The ordinance was described at the meeting as an amendment to the town’s 2026 salary ordinance; staff said the change will be implemented as part of the upcoming payroll cycle. The council did not identify specific individual salary figures during the public hearing.

Next steps: the ordinance was adopted as presented and will be implemented by town payroll and human-resources staff. Council members said they would continue to track recruitment and retention metrics.

Provenance: topic introduced SEG 470, final action and voice vote recorded SEG 563–565.