CITY OF MENIFEE
SUBJECT: Salary Schedule and Authorized Position Listing Update to Include Mandatory Minium Wage Increase and Police Officer Recruit and Police Corporal Classifications
MEETING DATE: December 17, 2025
TO: Mayor and City Council
PREPARED BY: Silvano Rodriguez, Human Resources Manager REVIEWED BY: Angela Rivera, Human Resources Director
APPROVED BY: Armando G. Villa, City Manager
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RECOMMENDED ACTION
1.Adopt a resolution approving the revised Salary Schedule and Authorized Position Listing to include the positions of Police Corporal and Police Officer Recruit and adjusting the part-time positions of Police Cadet and Community Services Leader I to reflect the mandatory minimum wage increase effective January 1, 2026.
DISCUSSION
Updates to the City’s classifications and positions are sometimes necessary for operational needs. The creation of new positions or adjustments to compensation requires City Council approval through the adoption of a resolution amending the City’s Authorized Position Listing and Salary Schedule. The Menifee Police Department is seeking approval for two organizational updates designed to enhance recruitment, retention, and operational effectiveness within the Department.
Additionally, starting January 1, 2026, the minimum wage in California will increase to $16.90. As part of this proposed resolution, the Salary Schedule and Authorized Position Listing are updated to reflect this mandatory minimum wage adjustment, affecting the part-time positions of Police Cadet and Part Time Leader I.
Police Officer Recruit
The Menifee Police Department is requesting City Council approval to add the position of Police Officer Recruit to the City’s Salary Schedule. This request does not seek to add new budgeted positions. Each Recruit hired would underfill an authorized Police Officer position within the Department’s approved staffing allocation. The addition of this position is a strategic effort to address the growing need to attract and retain high-quality personnel to fill existing Police Officer
City of Menifee Staff Report
Salary Schedule and Authorized Position Listing Update
December 17, 2025
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vacancies within the City of Menifee. Maintaining a fully staffed Police Department is essential to providing exceptional public safety service to the community. When vacancies remain unfilled, it places additional strain on current personnel, limits proactive policing and community engagement efforts, and can reduce the department’s overall effectiveness in maintaining the high standards expected by the residents of Menifee.
Establishing the Police Officer Recruit position (“Recruit”) provides the Department with a creative and sustainable way to invest in individuals early in their law enforcement careers, those who demonstrate integrity, commitment, and alignment with the department’s values but may not yet be academy-trained. Candidates for this position must successfully complete a written examination, physical agility test, and a comprehensive POST-approved background investigation, along with medical, psychological, and polygraph examinations prior to appointment. Once selected, Recruits may either be sponsored prior to entering a POST- approved police academy or hired while they are actively attending one. Sponsorship includes the purchase of required uniforms and equipment, payment of academy tuition and fees, and the provision of health benefits and hourly compensation.
The proposed Recruit position would be a full-time, benefited position compensated at $32 per hour, with participation in the City’s health benefit cafeteria plan. The incumbent would be included in Menifee Police Officer’s Association (MPOA) labor union upon successful completion and graduation from a California POST-certified police academy. Because the cost of employing a Recruit is lower than that of a fully burdened Police Officer, this initiative would remain within the Department’s existing budget while enhancing recruitment efforts, reducing vacancy rates, and strengthening the department’s culture and long-term succession planning.
By developing officers internally through the Recruit program, the Menifee Police Department can build a workforce that is highly skilled, motivated, and deeply connected to the community it serves, ensuring the continued safety, stability, and excellence of police services in Menifee.
Police Corporal
At the December 4, 2024 City Council meeting, the City Council approved a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the MPOA. Established as part of the approved MOU, the City was to prepare a job classification for a Police Corporal position with the number of positions determined by the City’s operational needs. This request would add a new position of Police Corporal to the Authorized Position Listing and establish the compensation range to be included in the City’s Salary Schedule. The establishment of this classification would not result in an increase in positions but would be reclassifying four Police Offer positions to the Police Corporal. Police Corporals will be afforded the same benefits as outlined in the MPOA MOU.
The Meyers-Milias-Brown Act (MMBA) requires public agencies to meet and confer in good faith with recognized employee organizations regarding wages, hours, and working conditions. The City completed the meet and confer process with MPOA on December 8, 2025.
STRATEGIC PLAN OBJECTIVE
Safe and Vibrant Community
City of Menifee Staff Report
Salary Schedule and Authorized Position Listing Update
December 17, 2025
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FISCAL IMPACT
The recommended actions would have offsetting fiscal impacts. All Police Officer Recruit positions filled would act as underfills to previously approved Police Officer positions and would thus result in budget savings of approximately $25,561 per position (not including individual benefit selections).
The position of Police Corporal would provide increased pay for up to four current Police Officers of approximately $5,232 per position, with a total impact of $20,927 in Fiscal Year 2025/2026 and $22,849 in Fiscal Year 2026/2027. Associated costs would be absorbed within the adopted budget. No additional budget appropriation action(s) is required.
ATTACHMENTS
1. Resolution
2. Exhibit A - Authorized Position Listing
3. Exhibit B - Salary Schedule
4. Police Officer Recruit Benefits