BY ANGELA BONILLA CONTRIBUTIONS FROM VANESSA HOLT & KEVIN VU
Shenandoah
Oak Ridge North
Shenandoah Police Department growth plan
The Shenandoah Police Department pro- posed an increase to its law enforcement salaries that would exceed what Montgomery County pays in the next three years. “[In] our current pay scale structure ... we are no longer competitive. We used to have some competitive advantage over the county,” Financial Officer Lisa Wasner said. Police Chief Troye Dunlap said Aug. 18 there were 28 men and women in the department, with four vacancies at that time. “In the past, what brought people here was pay,” Dunlap said. In exit interviews, officers said that their reason for leaving was the pay, Dunlap said. In FY 2024-25, the starting pay for a patrol officer was $62,000 a year, but that will increase to $75,000 in FY 2025-26, he said. Wasner said a pay bump is needed because concerns in the department include retention, vacancies, recruitment and officer burnout.
In neighboring Oak Ridge North, a police pay raise is not included in the FY 2025-26 budget. Police Chief Ken Foulch told Community Impact that research is being conducted on how the city can increase officer pay to be on par with Montgom- ery County. The pay for an officer currently begins at $61,500, with pay for officers with more experi- ence up to $70,000. The department currently has 16 officers and one vacancy, Foulch said. “We kind of have to come up to scale or we potentially could be losing officers to either Mont- gomery County or them traveling south to either Harris [County] or Houston,” Foulch said. Oak Ridge North, which has a population of 3,000, saw Foulch named chief in July after former Police Chief Tom Libby retired April 25. City Manager Heather Neeley had recommended terminating Libby following the loss of 19 officers since 2020, she said at an April 14 Oak Ridge North City Council meeting.
New position
Budget increase for pay parity
FY 2025-26
Detective ($156,554 annual salary) $383,070 Sergeant ($184,110 annual salary) $314,070 Patrol officer ($161,672 annual salary) $434,285
FY 2026-27
FY 2027-28
SOURCE: CITY OF SHENANDOAH/COMMUNITY IMPACT
The pay parity plan will add $300,000 to $400,000 to the city’s budget expenditures in the next three years, and the department will add three officers.
Looking forward
Education pay annual incentives Additional pay is available to full-time county employees with degrees as of Oct. 11. Bachelor’s degree $1,560 Master’s degree $2,600 JD/Doctorate $3,640
offers stipends effective Oct. 11 for all full- time county employees who have a bachelor’s degree or higher. “They want to go somewhere not only where they’re getting pretty good pay ... but being in an environment where they can learn and develop and be happy,” said Lt. Ken Washington, with the Montgomery County Precinct 3 Constable’s Office.
The pay increase for Montgomery County law enforcement positions will begin to hit paychecks this October. Pay increases for detention officers take effect March 13, 2026, and increases for dispatchers will be presented in 2027, according to county information. In addition to the plan’s pay increases, it also
SOURCE: MONTGOMERY COUNTY SHERIFF’S OFFICE/COMMUNITY IMPACT
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