Police officer pay increases the past two years have decreased employees seeking greener pastures and turnover costs as a result, the police chiefs in Post Falls and Rathdrum say.

Post Falls officers received an across-the-board 5 percent salary increase last year, along with up to a 3 percent merit hike. This year, they received a 3 percent across-the-board increase.

The across-the-board bumps made the starting pay for an officer with no experience $20.71 per hour and $21.74 for one with experience.

As a result, costly turnover, which was a concern three years ago, has decreased, Post Falls Chief Scot Haug said.

"They were significant jumps, but they were very much needed to bridge the gap between what we were paying and where we were losing officers to," Haug said. "That said, we have no intention of trying to catch Spokane. That's just not feasible for smaller communities to do.

"But, when you can receive $6 to $7 an hour more by just walking in the door, that can be attractive to some employees who can continue to live here and commute a half an hour over the border."

Haug said his agency noticed a trend of officers leaving from 2009 to 2011 as one left for Spokane, another for Spokane County and one for Liberty Lake.

So PFPD last year conducted an internal study on the costs of turnover. It revealed the hard costs to hire and train a new patrol officer, including equipment and sending the employee to the police academy, are $47,226. The soft costs, including additional supervision needed when the new employee comes on, the staff costs during the hiring process and overtime hours needed to fill the gap, are $31,897 (633 hours).

The total turnover costs of nearly $80,000 made Haug take a hard look at officer pay. With the recent increases, the average salary for a Post Falls officer is $24 an hour.

Haug said he believes officer pay has now reached a "happy medium" that decreases turnover and bridges the gap to Spokane and Coeur d'Alene.

"I feel comfortable that we're paying a fair wage, but it still needs to be looked at annually so that we don't have to make big adjustments at once," Haug said, adding that his department performs an annual salary survey that compares agencies in the region.

"It's like maintenance on a house. If you don't keep up with it, it can lead to a bigger expense later on."

Haug said officer pay, which involves keeping the taxpayer, employee, department and turnover in mind, has been one of the most challenging aspects of his job.

Linda Wilhelm, Post Falls City Council member, supported the officer pay increases.

"My main concern is that the cost of replacing them is so expensive that it makes sense to give them raises to be more competitive (in the market)," she said. "We're not trying to give them equal pay (with the Spokane market). We're just trying to be a little more competitive and hopefully sell them with it being a better place to live over here. That's the goal."

Spokane and Coeur d'Alene have police unions that negotiate pay, whereas Post Falls, Rathdrum, Kootenai County and most other Idaho communities don't. That's also a factor in determining officer pay, local officials said.

Rathdrum officers had a 5.6 percent pay increase the past two years, including 3.6 percent in fiscal year 2013 and 2 percent this year. The hikes made the starting pay for an officer $18.21 per hour. The average wage for a Rathdrum officer is $20.16 per hour.

"We are close in pay to other jurisdictions in our area," Rathdrum Chief Kevin Fuhr said.

Fuhr said in his seven years of leading the department, only two officers have left to go to a different agency. In both cases, wage increases were cited as the reason for leaving. Rathdrum lost one officer to Post Falls in 2008 and another to Coeur d'Alene in 2011.

Police officers in Idaho pay 8.36 percent of their wage into the Public Employee Retirement System of Idaho (PERSI) and the employer pays 11.66 percent. Non-police and fire employees pay 6.79 percent and the employer pays 11.32 percent.

Officers in Post Falls pay $7.50 a month for their health insurance, while Rathdrum officers have their health insurance completely paid for. Family plans cost $60 per month for Post Falls officers and $184 per month for Rathdrum officers.

"Employees pay a low premium (in Post Falls) because we have a high deductible ($2,000 for individuals and $4,000 for families)," Haug said. "The maximum out-of-pocket expense for a family could go as high as $8,000 and that doesn't include prescriptions, office co-pays or services not covered under the contract."