Cost of Living

The City of St. Albans has a unionized police force that is coming up for a contract renewal. The police have one issue: the cost of living increases. During the past 10 years, police officers have received minimal cost of living increases, and this time they want to match what other police forces are making. They claim that their salaries are below the national level. The incoming new police hire earns a salary of $48,200. Using the websites provided, prepare data and an argument on behalf of the police officers to support their position.

This assignment will be written as a PowerPoint slide show presentation (PowerPoint Tips (Links to an external site.)). Approach it as if you are giving the presentation to governing board of the City of Albans. You are trying to persuade the board that the police officers need a raise. Your proposal should be:

• 8-10 power point slides
• The note section of the slides should be used to explain the slides.
• At least two recent and credible sources in addition to the textbook must be used.
• All sources must be cited using APA formatting.
• Charts, tables, graphs, etc., may be used.
• The first slide should be a title slide.

The last slide should be a reference list. (You can use other references but you MUST also use the following references)

AFL-CIO. (2014). Collective bargaining (Links to an external site.). Retrieved from http://www.aflcio.org/Learn-About-Unions/Collective-Bargaining

Bureau of Labor Statistics (Links to an external site.). (https://www.bls.gov/)

Sample Answer

Cost of Living in the City of St. Albans

The cost of living in St. Albans is 21% higher than the average national living cost in the United States.

• ØTransportation expenses and gas prices- 12% higher.
• ØHousing expenses- 47% higher
• ØGrocery and food- 12% higher
• ØHealthcare services- 5% higheer

Explanation

According to the PayScale report of 2020, the cost of living in St. Albans is 21% higher than the average national living cost in the United States (PaySclae, 2021). Transportation expenses and gas prices are above the national average prices by 12%, with a gallon of gas going for $2.92. The housing expenses are also higher than the national average by 47%, with a median home going for approximately $509,743 (PaySclae, 2021). The cost of grocery and food in St. Albans is also higher than the average cost by 12%, with bread going for $3.73, a bunch of bananas costing $3.76, and a hamburger going for $4.74 (PaySclae, 2021).  Healthcare services are also 5% above the national average cost, where the citizens pay $115.69 for a doctor’s visit, $99.39 for a dentist visit, $108.41 for an optometrist visit, and $55.18 for a veterinary visit (PaySclae, 2021).