AUSTIN, Texas — The offer letter sent to outgoing Dallas Police Chief Eddie Garcia by the city of Austin shows he will have just a slightly higher salary when he starts his new job as an assistant city manager.
According to the letter, sent to WFAA by the city, Garcia will be earning $12,600 per pay period, or $327,600 annually. This is about $20,000 more than Garcia's base salary for his last agreement as Dallas Police Chief, which was $306,440.40.
However, Garcia would also earn an additional $10,000 every six months as a retention bonus under his deal with Dallas, and his salary would automatically increase anytime a Texas chief got a raise higher than his to ensure he stayed the highest-paid police chief in the state. As it stood in September, with the retention bonuses included, Garcia would have been making a total salary of about $326,440.40, a little more than $1,000 less than his salary with Austin.
In addition to his new salary, the offer letter shows the city is offering Garcia deferred compensation, meaning Garcia would be able to postpone the payment of some of his salary for a later date, such as during retirement. Under the new deal, he will also receive a retirement contribution equal to 9% of his base pay, and mandatory contribution increases to 10% of his base pay in January 2025. This would amount to about $32,760 dollars. Vesting would occur once Garcia has been with the city for five years -- meaning the city can't take back any of the money in Garcia's account.
Garcia will also receive nearly two vacation days per month, about 23 days per year, with a maximum accumulation of 10 weeks of vacation. One week of vacation will be credited to him upon starting his new position.
The city will also provide Garcia with a monthly housing allowance of $2,500 for up to the first six months of his new role, as well as relocation assistance.
Garcia begins his new role on Nov. 4. He announced he would be leaving his role with the city of Dallas and retiring from law enforcement last month. This news came just a few months after he had inked a new deal to remain the city's police chief.
