The next UPD budget meeting to tackle pay raises and service cuts

SALT LAKE CITY — The big topic at the Unified Police Department’s budget meeting is expected to be pay raises for officers: how much will they be, and will the department need to cut services to make them happen?

The mayors of Holladay, Midvale, Millcreek, and Taylorsville have sent a letter to Salt Lake County Sheriff Rosie Rivera asking to raise officers’ pay 10.75%.

Rivera told the Dave and Dujanovic Show on KSL News Radio on Monday that they have money for a 6.75% raise. She fears they’d have to cut regional services 25% to make the mayors’s request happen.

However, Rivera is open to reviewing the budget again to see if there’s any extra money.

“[We’re] looking at everything we possibly can and mak[ing] sure we’re efficient in the budget and transparent. So, if there are monies there, we’ll pay our officers more,” Rivera said.

The department recently had to bring in the State Auditor after $1.1 million was misclassified as revenue. There were also questions raised during last month’s UPD meeting about how several million dollars in fund revenues have been used.

UPD may also lose another city as Midvale’s City Council may vote to leave the department and fund its own police force after balking at increasing fees. Riverton and Herriman left UPD last year and have filed suit against the department to reclaim some of their fees and assets.