Utah Highway Patrol troopers' starting salaries are lower than those of surrounding states, a short study by the legislative auditor general shows.
That's not news to troopers and their families, who protested their low pay briefly in the State Capitol this past legislative session.
Ultimately, lawmakers found some extra money to help the troopers. But the situation still needs to be fixed, said Rep. Paul Ray, R-Clearfield, who asked for the "letter" study. Any lawmaker can ask for such a short study, which are not as detailed as the large audits usually performed by the Office of Legislative Auditor General.
In his letter to Ray earlier this month, Legislative Auditor General Wayne Welsh said it's been known from some time that UHP troopers earn between 4 percent and 8 percent less money than their Utah law enforcement counterparts — city police officers and deputy county sheriffs.
But for Ray, Welsh compared UHP salaries with state troopers in surrounding Western states. And, once again, Utah is lacking.
When just pure salary is looked at, Utah is 10th out of 10 states. In descending order they are: Washington, Oregon, Arizona, Idaho, Colorado, Nevada, Wyoming, New Mexico, Montana and then Utah.
Utah's starting wage is $25,730 a year, compared to Washington's top starting wage of $37,877.
However, Welsh points out, it's best to compare total compensation packages, which include retirement, health care and other amenities. Even then, however, Utah ranks seventh out of 10 when salary and benefits are figured in.
Total compensation included, a starting trooper makes $38,440 in Utah. Montana is lowest at $36,124 and New Mexico comes in at $38,332, Welsh found. Oregon is the highest at $50,409 a year for a starting trooper.
Looking at just benefits — salary not included — UHP troopers have the best benefit package of any of the states.
A major part of that is the good retirement system, Welsh said. Utah's retirement plan equals 24 percent of pay, much higher than any other state, he said. And Utah's health care plan is 15 percent of salary — again, very good, Welsh said.
Getting a good measurement of the total compensation of state troopers across the West is not easy, Welsh said, because of the wide variances in how benefits are figured.
Gov. Mike Leavitt "has been inadequate when it comes to taking care of the people that take care of him," Ray said. Leavitt's personal security detail is made up of plain-clothes UHP troopers.
It's time for the Legislature to address the situation, Ray added.
E-MAIL: bbjr@desnews.com