The Courier of Montgomery County reports that following the pay boosts for Houston police officers of 36 percent over the next five years, Montgomery County commissioners agreed Tuesday to form a committee to study law enforcement salaries.
Getting discussions underway about pay equity was “appropriate,” according to Precinct 4 Commissioner Matt Gray.
Gray talked about the county being a “friend to law enforcement” and about their “respect for law enforcement.
He said the talks for better pay were inspired by the treatment of police officers during protests in California and across the United States.
Over the last several years, County Judge Mark Keough has made law enforcement a priority. As part of the County’s $466 million budget for 2025, commissioners okayed 23 new full-time law enforcement positions.
Keough said during a September meeting, “We can’t sacrifice law enforcement.”
The county is growing. In 2020, the county’s population was 620,567 and now the Census Bureau estimates it at 749,613.
Keough said law enforcement is “one of the great reasons why we are growing.”
Gray made a motion to create the committee and have committee members pass along their findings during the court’s budget workshops in August. The committee would have as its members representatives from the budget office, county attorney’s office, risk management, the sheriff and constables’ offices, the Montgomery County Law Enforcement Association and the commissioners’ court.
Gray pointed out that the action of the Houston City Council on May 21 to okay a new contract with over 5,200 officers at Houston PD is a deal that will cost the city, over five years, almost $1 billion.
Documents shown to the Houston Chronicle showed that officers, due to the deal, will get 10% raises in July, and then 8% raises in 2026, 6% raises in both 2027 and 2028 and 6.5% raises in 2029.
