Austin police pay, benefits guaranteed by City Council

Austin police pay, benefits assured by city

Austin City Council unanimously approved a resolution calling on the city manager to create an ordinance guaranteeing salaries and benefits for APD officers.

AUSTIN, Texas - The Austin City Council has unanimously approved a resolution calling on the city manager to create an ordinance guaranteeing salaries and benefits for APD officers.

The city manager will now have until Feb. 1 to present the council with the new ordinance.

Austin Mayor Kirk Watson says it will also include a bonus program for incoming cadets to get more recruits to join and, in turn, help with APD's staffing crisis.

Austin police pay, benefits to be voted on

The Austin Police Department's contract with the city of Austin expired almost a year ago. The city council will vote on whether to protect officer pay and benefits until a new deal can be made.

RELATED: Austin police pay, benefits to be voted on by city council

Mayor Watson calls this item a "stopgap measure" for the time being until a long-term contract can be negotiated between the city and the Austin Police Association.

"The president of the police union, he and I have talked many, many times," Mayor Watson said. "I think we're in agreement that the best way to attract and retain police officers is for us to get to a long-term contract. So my hope is that we'll get back to the table and negotiate a contract, and do it fairly rapidly. But in the meantime, we need to make sure that we're providing security for our police officers. And that's what this resolution starts."

Once approved, this ordinance will be in effect for one year.

The mayor says he has hope the city will be able to negotiate a long-term contract with the APA before it expires.