ARLINGTON, Texas — The Arlington Police Association announced Tuesday they negotiated the largest single-year pay raise for the Arlington Police Department in the city’s history.
A press release from the APA stated next fiscal year, beginning mid-September, the department will see an 8% pay raise, which is more than $14.4 million.
“Thank You, Arlington Police Association, for being the key partner in negotiating this pay raise with our city’s leadership team,” Arlington Mayor Jim Ross said in a statement. “We recognize that for our city to succeed, we must invest in the employees who help make us the American Dream City.”
The APA stated that this raise, in a year of record-high inflation, shows a clear investment from the city into its first responders and city employees.
Arlington funds its police department, like any other city, through its general fund. Out of the $294.5 million general fund, the city has projected for its 2023 fiscal year, about $120.8 million of that will be allocated to Arlington police. That’s about 41% of the general fund, more than any other city department in Arlington, and double the second-most funded department — that being the Arlington Fire Department, which is projected to receive about $57.7 million in funding, or about 20% of the general fund.
The city’s budget presentation for the 2023 fiscal year shows Arlington has the second highest number of sworn staff out of cities in the DFW metroplex at about 1.76 sworn officers per 10,000 residents. This is behind only Fort Worth, which has about 1.9 sworn officers per 10,000 residents.
Some of the budget increases for the Arlington Police Department stem from the creation of a community action team, which is projected to add an additional $2.7 million to the police budget. Other proposed increases include an additional $6 million for additional patrol officers, about $500,000 more for additional traffic officers and about $400,000 in additional technology.
Business plan goals and objectives listed by the police department in the 2023 budget proposal and plan include implementing strategies to eliminate racism and other forms of discrimination and to advance unity in the city and to use targeted initiatives policies to foster a safe environment in order to improve quality of life and place.
You can review the city's full proposed budget and presentation here.