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Committee forwards roughly $3.3 million training grant to help hire and retain officers; budget implications remain
Summary
City staff said a Criminal Justice Training Commission award will help hire and retain officers for two years but will require the city to budget for hired officers’ full salary and benefits after the grant ends; councilors pressed staff on allowable uses and timing.
Federal Way staff told the committee they had been awarded a one-time grant from the Washington State Criminal Justice Training Commission intended to help hire, retain and train police officers.
City Manager Brian Davis described the award as a two-year grant that staff expect will help avoid cutting police positions in the current year. He said the funds are specifically for hiring, retention and training of law enforcement officers and that the city must budget to keep officers on staff after the grant ends.
Key details and timing: staff said invoice periods begin 10/15/2026 and end 07/10/2027, and the city will be responsible for the full salaries and benefits of the 10 officers hired under the grant after that date. Staff described the award in the meeting as “just under $3,300,000,” but a figure read aloud from the agenda materials in the same presentation was different; the discrepancy was not resolved during committee discussion.
Council questions: Councilmember Mark Moore and others pressed staff about allowable uses; staff repeatedly confirmed the funds can be used only for hiring, retaining and training police officers. Councilmember Melissa Hamilton noted this is welcome but likely insufficient to offset projected public-defense cost increases and broader budget pressures; staff agreed the grant is not a long-term solution and that future budget cycles will need to plan for the positions if the city keeps them.
Vote: The committee voted to forward acceptance of the grant award to the July 7 consent agenda.
What to watch: staff said they hope there will be additional rounds of funding in the future but could not guarantee it; the council will need to reflect ongoing personnel costs in the 2027 budget if the city intends to retain officers hired with this grant.
