Try as they might, Charlottesville can’t seem to attract any police officers, Kate Harmon reports in today’s Daily Progress. The starting salary of $33,904, along with a $5,000 signing bonus, has snared a grand total of one police officer in two years. The city has seven vacancies now, so now they’re trying to entice cops to commute from Waynesboro.
The reason for the problem is pretty clear: housing costs. The median cost of a home in the city is $280k and $311k in the county. That’s a monthly mortgage, insurance and property tax bill of just a hair under $2,000/month, or about 80% of the officer’s post-tax income. Hell no.
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