The Pay Charts: How Much San Angelo Police Really Make

The police chief’s primary complaint is a cause-and-effect argument. He asserts that the police department is short 30 officers out of its approximately 180 positions because the pay scale is inadequate to recruit new officers.

These extra 25-30 positions were added over the past eight years through negotiations between preceding Police Chief Frank Carter and the council. The point is, the police department ran effectively at a strength of 155-160 for years, including investigating cold cases.

Griffith estimates the problem is pay, so we obtained a copy of the pay schedule to show exactly what we pay San Angelo police officers. Here is how much we pay the Top 3 at the police department:

The pay table for the current Meet & Confer is for the previous administration. Therefore, we had to estimate longevity, incentive, and loyalty pay for the top three. For example, Maj. Craig Thomason received a special SWAT incentive as a lieutenant, and we did not include the $1,199.99 annual incentive in his assistant chief pay. Up and until June 2024, former Assistant Chief Tracy Fincher did not receive SWAT pay, although like Thomason, he was SWAT qualified.

Here is how much the rank and file police officers are paid:

In San Angelo, we elect our police chief. Thomason, who prior to last month’s promotion from lieutenant to assistant chief, had a $141,000 annual compensation package. Thomason’s pay increased by about $30,000 annually to around $173,000 after his promotion. Before Griffith promoted Thomason to assistant chief, he and his wife donated $2,489.82 directly to Griffith’s political campaign. While not illegal, the optics are questionable. This was a significant return on an investment, earning a $30k annual raise. Lt. Chris Cimino, who ran against Griffith for police chief, gave Griffith's campaign a paltry $20 during the runoff after Cimino endorsed Griffith. That was apparently not enough for a promotion. Assistant Chief Adam Scott saw a similar salary increase but we did not identify correlating political campaign donations from him.

Griffith realized the greatest increase. Prior to his election as police chief, he was a journeyman sergeant with a $122k compensation package. He is now the $202,000 man, having won an $80,000 pay increase with his election.

With higher pay comes responsibilities. The controversy over San Angelo police pay represents the first challenge of the Griffith administration. So far, Griffith miscalculated by attempting to garner public support for his raise idea before consulting city leaders at the top floor of City Hall who write the paychecks.

The pay crisis in San Angelo reflects a nationwide challenge. A casual browse of Indeed, a recruiting website and mobile app, reveals larger hiring bonuses and annual wages than San Angelo offers. State agency jobs, if one can qualify, offer six-figure incomes within two years, according to recent recruits. On Instagram, the College Station Police Department is promoting a $10,000 hiring bonus for new recruits with a $65,374 starting salary. San Angelo only offers a $7,500 bonus for transfers. The starting salary for new recruits to San Angelo’s police force is $54,399.

There should be more money available for hiring bonuses. If the San Angelo Police Department has had 20 positions unfilled for a year, at $50,000 per position with no employees drawing wages, the city budget should have $1 million in working capital. However, urgent expenses for the police department can reshuffle priorities. The City of San Angelo has not addressed the Dailey and Wells-installed L3 Harris public radio system since around 2017 when the FBI investigation of former Police Chief Tim Vasquez became public. Outgoing Police Chief Frank Carter negotiated a $1.5 million deal for FY 2025 to band-aid the radios with new software upgrades and other improvements.

At the last budget meeting, while working under the 3.5 percent new revenue cap to avoid placing the City of San Angelo's FY 2025 budget and tax rate on the ballot, the city council was working with about $2 million for salary increases for all city employees. A 4.5 percent across-the-board salary increase for all city employees was estimated to cost $2.6 million annually, or $600,000 more than estimated property taxes will allow. The city is expecting a revised revenue figure from the appraisal district that may make up that deficit.

The point is, according to budget discussions thus far, there is no money for giving police another raise that is sustainable for the years to come. At least this is true for a tax rate under the 3.5 percent new revenue rate of about 70 cents that avoids putting a large tax increase on the ballot. The "No New Revenue Rate" is 65.66 cents.