HENDERSONVILLE, Tenn. (WTVF) — The city of Hendersonville is set to offer a new perk to candidates applying to their police and fire departments.
An ordinance that offers lateral compensation to experienced officers from other cities unanimously passed its first reading at the city’s Board of Mayor and Aldermen meeting at the end of August.
"We have open positions and we have been short-staffed over the past two or three years," said Hendersonville Police Chief James L. Jones.
The ordinance means officers from departments in other cities who want to come to Hendersonville will receive credit for their years of service when determining their starting salary, rather than requiring them to start at entry-level pay.
"We recognize that by starting them out at higher than the base salary for a brand new officer," Chief Jones said.
The city has tried multiple approaches to attract qualified candidates.
"We've provided raises, we've improved our legacy pension plan, we're looking at changing hours and being more flexible. But at the end of the day, what we're trying to do is get those people who are interested in police work to come to Hendersonville," said Hendersonville Mayor Jamie Clary.
The lateral compensation program also addresses concerns some may have about their pension benefits and how those may be impacted by changing jobs.
According to Chief Jones, some other police departments in Tennessee require officers to pay a portion of their compensation toward their pension, but in Hendersonville, the lateral compensation would allow them to retain those year’s given toward their pension, and the city pays into the pension instead of the officer.
According to Mayor Clary, the pay for experience would be offered at a rate of up to two to one. He explained how that would work.
"If they come to us with four years of experience, they're going to start with two years of experience, before, and there's a lot of cities that still do this, if they come to you with four years of experience, they're going to start at the bottom, they're going to start with zero," said Mayor Clary.
Mayor Clary said the city was able to offer lateral compensation informally before, but the ordinance makes it official policy, which he believes will help with recruitment efforts.
"This story was reported on-air by Robb Coles and has been converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. Coles verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy."
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