I. RECOMMENDATION:
This item was requested as a future agenda item by Councilman Adkisson. City Manager recommends.
II. BACKGROUND:
Currently, the City of Coalinga has multiple Police Officer vacancies. Agencies throughout California are struggling to hire Police Officers. Councilman Adkisson's idea with this program is to encourage local Coalinga residents to become Police Officers to serve their own community in hopes this will not only help recruit Police Officers, but also help retain Police Officers long term as Coalinga is already their home.
III. DISCUSSION:
In order to try to recruit Coalinga residents to become Police Officers, Councilman Adkisson has requested a future agenda item which would provide student loan forgiveness.
Program Guidelines:
Coalinga residents who enroll in a police academy and obtain a Basic POST Certificate who are then hired by the City of Coalinga as a Police Officer may have their student loans forgiven based on the following schedule:
$3,000 payable to the loan provider on behalf of the Police Officer after successfully completing one year of service to the City of Coalinga, passing probation, and obtaining at minimum overall rating of competent on the annual performance evaluation;
$3,000 payable to the loan provider on behalf of the Police Officer after successfully completing two years of service to the City of Coalinga and obtaining a minimum overall rating of competent on the annual performance evaluation;
$3,000 payable to the loan provider on behalf of the Police Officer after successfully completing three years of service to the City of Coalinga and obtaining a minimum overall rating of competent on the annual performance evaluation;
$3,000 payable to the loan provider on behalf of the Police Officer after successfully completing four years of service to the City of Coalinga and obtaining a minimum overall rating of competent on the annual performance evaluation.
The loan forgiveness maximum is $12,000 which should be a sufficient amount for a Coalinga citizen to obtain in order to fully fund the cost of the Police Academy and other associated costs such as commuting.
To be eligible for loan forgiveness, Police Officers would need to provide acceptable proof to the City Manager verifying that they were residents of the City of Coalinga prior to enrolling in the Police Academy and that they started the Police Academy after this program was approved by the Coalinga City Council.
Participants are required to secure their own loans. The City will not be a party on the loan or responsible for loan repayment.
If a Coalinga resident obtains a loan and a Basic POST Certificate, there is no guarantee of an employment offer from the City of Coalinga.
IV. ALTERNATIVES:
Do not approve.
V. FISCAL IMPACT:
The total fiscal impact would be up to $12,000 per hired Police Officer who meets the criteria. The cost would come from the General Fund and is not budgeted. However, the true cost will likely be offset by reduced employee turnover. |