Full disclosure - I am a fan of the new Atherton Police Department. There have been so many changes over the last 4-5 years attributed to the leadership of the Town that the organization and its officers are stellar.

It's important to remember that the last 3-year contract had $0 in salary increases so it's really 11.5% over 6 years not just 3. That cost of $250,000 divided up across the 6 years is $42,000 per year. Divide that across the 26 people covered it's an average raise of $1,615 per year. As the Town manager points out in the staff report that's about a 1.7% increase per year. That's less than the CPI. When you factor in that of that $250,000, $50,000 is to adjust the dispatcher salaries to bring them to average, the average raise decreases to about $1,282 per year or $107 a month more.