Rifle City Council dedicated the majority of its Sept. 3 meeting to a proposed overhaul to the city’s pay structure, including a new scale for police officers.

The discussion centered around recommendations from a Market Salary Study, which was discussed during the work session and the official meeting.

Rifle city staff hired Graves Consulting to complete a Market Salary Study of city wages, comparing wages from Rifle to other nearby municipalities and to the state of Colorado. Carbondale, Silt, Grand Junction and Montrose were some of the compared municipalities. 

The results were that there are currently 19 pay grades within the city and 8% distances between the grades. The proposal would  add two more pay grades and increase the entire pay structure by 4%. 

The Rifle Police Department was given a different pay grade proposal. Currently, the police have eight wage steps for an officer and six each for a corporal and sergeant grades. It was proposed to remove the bottom two steps from the corporal and sergeant grades and add two steps at the top for all sworn officers. 

Police officers would start at $78,000 and have a maximum of $131,000, if steps are followed, depending on the officer and their skill. Employees are not set into one grade forever nor can they not move up and down within. 

The council spent their entire work session discussing the new pay structure, which was proposed as spending $200,000 until the end of 2025 to increase wages for the city staff and Rifle Police Department.

“We moved the other two agenda items on the workshop because this is important,” Mayor Sean Strode said. “To get through the end of the year, it’s not a huge financial commitment, but next year it’ll be pretty impactful.”

He noted the timing coincides with the upcoming presentation of the city’s 2026 budget. 

“Sometimes it’s hard making large financial decisions without knowing what we’re coming up with next year,” Strode said. “We wanted more information and this has a lot of impact, so I want to make sure we’re making the best decisions possible with the taxpayer funds but we also want to be competitive in the region.”

Strode said he had heard that some police officers were considering leaving Rifle for higher pay elsewhere.

“Just like in any industry, the employer has to keep the financial interests of their employees in view and we already had this in motion, but it coincided with the increase of wages for law enforcement regionally,” Strode said. “This was a prior motive for approving it, because this is one of the foundations of a city. Running a rec league is great, but we need the police for structure and public safety.”

At the same time, he said the council must weigh community concerns about taxpayer spending.

“The money the taxpayers pay, it’s a personal thing, because we will get people making public comment on recent decisions we’ve made, and then who am I standing next to at the soccer field for my child’s game? Them,” Strode said. “Being in a small town, you realize you have a budget and you need to stick to that, so we wanted to get all the information we could so we can make a good decision.”

“We know our employees and we want what’s best for them, but we also have to think of the people paying our taxes,” he added. 

Strode said the city supports their police officers and that they want what’s best for them too. 

“Over the years it’s been hard being a cop,” Strode said. “You’re always under the scrutiny of the public, every moment your awareness is heightened, every traffic stop you’re wondering whether it’ll go well or not, it’s just different.”

Council approved the higher pay structure for the remainder of 2025. Councilor Chris Bornholt recused himself because his son, Wyatt, is a Rifle police officer.

The pay plan will be revisited during the city’s 2026 budget process.