For the first three years of his tenure, the St. Louis Police Foundation has provided an annual stipend of $100,000 to Police Chief Robert Tracy's salary, bringing it to $275,000.
This fall, the Police Foundations announced they will not be extending that agreement beyond this year, citing the state takeover of the police department.
Chief Tracy tells KMOX there is work going on behind the scenes for this portion of his salary to return.
"There's people and they're looking at ways to make sure I could be made whole at a market rate that I was brought in at."
Tracy tells KMOX he can't discuss the details surrounding the stipend but says "everybody has a lot of confidence that will get resolved in a short period of time."
The city's Police Chief base salary of $175,000 comes up short compared to other cities. Baltimore pays their Chief over $300,000. Nearby cities like Memphis and Kansas City pay over $250,000.
Still, Tracy says he would be committed to St. Louis without the stipend.
"I've always been committed to stay. I came here to make a difference and work with the great men and women of the police department... When I come someplace you can see how long I do stay."
Tracy began his career in the NYPD from 1984-2007 and served as the Chief of Crime Control Strategies in the Chicago Police Department from 2011-2016.
Most recently, he has served as the Chief of Police in Wilmington Delaware for nearly six years from 2017-2022 before coming to St. Louis. There, Tracy's salary was raised from $163,000 to over $206,000 when he was first hired. Tracy's successor, Wilfred Campos, makes nearly the same.