Royalton presentation finds officers paid near bottom of peer towns; dispatch fees under review

Town staff presented comparative data showing Royalton’s police spending and officer wages lie near the lower end of similarly sized Vermont towns, and argued those pay rates contribute to shorter officer tenure. The presenter told the board that Royalton’s officers are paid below peers and said the town is "underpaying our officers," a point that board members and the police chief discussed in relation to recruitment and retention.

The presentation also broke down dispatching: Royalton pays Hartford for 24/7 call-taking and pays based on call volume. Presenter: "We're covering 70% of all calls that come into Royalton," and the board questioned whether Hartford offers tiered pricing or other cost structures. Staff committed to meet with the Hartford communications director to obtain a cost-per-call breakdown and to report back to the selectboard. The police chief described operational trade-offs — which calls are categorized as cases, fingerprints and administrative entries that affect statistics, and how coverage is allocated between local officers and Vermont State Police. Board members asked staff to explore whether certain statistic collection could be performed locally to reduce costs while preserving operational data for budgeting and public reporting.

Next steps: staff will meet Hartford dispatch to get a breakdown of per-call pricing and to examine options for tiered coverage and alternative arrangements; results will be reported at a future meeting.