Three pay raises before the Lafayette City-Parish Council Tuesday for city police, firefighters and other Lafayette Consolidated Government employees would deplete the city's savings account by 2023, Chief Financial Officer Lorrie Toups said Friday.
Combined, the three raises would require $7.3 million from the city general fund every year. The general fund is like a savings account that LCG uses to pay for unexpected expenses and operational costs that aren't tied to a specific tax. At the Oct. 15 meeting, the council introduced and discussed the increase of starting pay for Lafayette Police officers to $40,000 a year. The current starting salary is $34,600 a year. The department is losing trained and experienced officers not just to other states, but to smaller police departments in the parish who pay more.