COEUR d’ALENE — Police Chief Lee White is looking for a few good seasoned officers.

With the City Council’s approval of an incentive program Tuesday, he may find them.

“The way it stands right now I’m hoping some additional officers see this and decide to make the plunge to the city of Coeur d’Alene,” he said following the City Council meeting in the Library Community Room.

The council unanimously approved a recruitment program that will provide $80,000 to help attract eight lateral officers who have at least two years of experience and meet other qualifications.

A $5,000 payment will be made upon hiring and $5,000 will be paid after one year of employment.

The program will be effective with the new city budget Oct. 1.

“You think a $10,000 swing is enough in this market?” asked Councilwoman Kiki Miller.

White said it might not cover all costs, considering the expense of moving and the cost of housing in Coeur d'Alene, but it will help.

“It’s a start,” he said.

White said his department has been down at least 10 positions for several months, and said several candidates have turned down jobs with CdA police due to the higher cost of living.

He said he is looking for quality officers who are “running to something, not from something.

“I don’t want to hire a problem officer from another agency, so our hiring process will vet that out,” he said.

He said the hiring incentive program makes financial sense. The cost to get a new recruit through the academy and field training is at least $20,000, while lateral officers come in experienced and ready for the field after some training.

Richard Price, a resident of Coeur d’Alene, questioned the fairness of the program. He said officers hired in the past few years also deserved the incentive money.

He said he opposed raising taxes, but would probably support a program — perhaps through a “tax shift by taking money from the Arts Commission" — that gave police hired in the past few years the same monetary boost.

“We have to be fair,” he said.

White said they considered that, but asked where to draw the line in determining how many years to go back.

“We don’t have that anywhere in our financial plan. It’s certainly something we can discuss," he said.

White asked for the council’s input on one part of the program that would require a lateral officer who receives the incentive money to pay it back if they leave within three years of being hired.

He said he didn’t want an officer to come here, take the money and later leave for a Spokane law enforcement agency. But he also didn’t want someone who was unhappy to stick around just to avoid giving the money back.

Councilwoman Christie Wood said it should be left up to the discretion of the chief and city administrator to determine on a case-by-base basis.

"There’s a lot of different extenuating circumstances,” she said.

Nick Goodwin, the city’s urban forester, also addressed the council as a presentative for the Lake City Employees Association. Its current contract runs Oct. 1, 2018, to Sept. 30, 2023.

He noted the council was scheduled for an executive session after the regular meeting Tuesday, “to consider labor contract matters.”

A negotiations meeting is scheduled this morning with the Coeur d’Alene Police Officers Association.

Goodwin said some of the decisions the council makes with the police contract could affect "our entire city family."

He asked they take all city employees into consideration.

“We trust this council, we trust this mayor. We offered you our support in the past and we support you now,” he said.

Goodwin said the LCEA is not in negotiations with the city but will be next year, and “will continue to push for fair contracts that are reasonable, that are fair to the public, that are air to our other groups in the city that we don’t represent.”