An outside review of the salaries and benefits of the Town of Yucca Valley employees found that employees are being paid, on average, between 6 and 15 percent below median compensation compared to other cities’ employees. Yucca Valley Town Council members voted at last night’s meeting to gradually increase the employees’ total compensation, at a cost of about $106,000 annually. Council members also learned they will have to shell out a lot more than that if they want to increase the police presence in the town. Managing editor Tami Roleff says the council also received a public safety update from the Sheriff’s Department…
Morongo Basin Sheriff’s Captain Jeff Joling began his presentation to the Yucca Valley Town Council last night by reminding them that while the town’s population and crime rates have increased, the number of deputies assigned to Yucca Valley has not. “These staffings have remained the same since fiscal year 2007-2008.” Joling presented a 5-year snapshot of crimes in Yucca Valley. In general, most crimes were declining from 2011 through 2013, and started increasing again in 2014 and 2015. Coincidentally, AB109, which required California state prisons to reduce their inmate populations, went into effect in 2013, and voters approved Prop 47 in 2014, which reduced many drug charges from felonies to misdemeanors.
Joling suggested residents install a monitored alarm system, and to not leave their keys in their vehicles. He added that identity theft has become a huge problem and urged residents to safeguard their mail and identity, saying they were as valuable as anything in your home.
Town Manager Curtis Yakimow told council members that to add two deputies—one devoted to Problem Oriented Policing, and a Sheriff’s Service Specialist—would add $350,000 to the budget, and raise the cost of public safety from 43 percent of the total budget to about 47 percent. Yakimow said unless residents pass a sales tax measure this November, it’s unlikely that any deputies will be added, unless residents are willing to give up quality-of-life programs. “The pie chart identifies that public safety is 43 percent of your annual budget costs. If you don’t have additional revenue, if the public safety piece is increased, the other pieces of the pie which represent the other services that the community receives from the town, by definition, have to shrink.” The council received and filed the captain’s public safety report.
YUCCA VALLEY EMPLOYEES GET A RAISE, A HARD LOOK AT THE COST OF PUBLIC SAFETY
