But unlike that heartening children's tale - where the slow-but-steady tortoise wins the race - no one knows if paychecks will ever catch up to housing costs.

One fact is certain: Many police officers in Utah's fastest-growing areas can't afford to live in the cities they have pledged to defend.

"It's too expensive," says Allen Ackerson, who joined Centerville's police department in 2004.

Married with two children, Ackerson two years ago purchased for $145,000 a North Salt Lake home - four communities to the south of Centerville. Since then, he said he has seen it appreciate by about $75,000.

"I got in before the big boom of the housing increase," Ackerson says. "New officers are caught in the lurch. They're having a hard time finding housing nearby, in an area where you want to raise a family."

However, Ackerson isn't stumping for higher pay.

"In Centerville, they're very regular on raises. They take care of us," he says. "Land values have taken off, and pay hasn't had a chance to catch up."

Police Chief Neal Worsley said that only two of his department's 17 officers live in his south Davis County city. Base pay for cops there starts at $15.26 per hour.

To address recruitment challenges, the Centerville City Council recently expanded the area where officers can reside - and drive their patrol vehicles to and from work - to include all of Davis County.

"In our last recruiting, we found we lost out on some officers because of the inability or unwillingness to relocate within our boundaries," Worsley told council members in January.

The problem in Centerville - and other communities along the front and back of the Wasatch: Housing costs across the state have gone up, on average, about 15 percent a year. But at the most, wages have only increased about 3 percent a year.

Obviously, people other than police officers are affected. This issue also hits other professionals and service workers who earn less than $50,000 a year. That list includes teachers, retail salespeople, licensed practical nurses and janitors.

Bill Erickson, president of the Utah Housing Corp., says his government-created, privately-funded organization has, since 1978, helped put 70,000 Utah families in their first homes.

That aid has come in the form of low-interest home loans, help with down payments and closing costs, and subsidized apartments for renters.

"Municipal workers are a huge dilemma," Erickson says.

"What we find in a lot of cases is housing that's not decent anymore," he says. "We're constantly looking at how we can reduce housing costs. We can't do much to increase income."

Higher-density housing is one way to trim land costs, Erickson says.

"It's hard to raise kids in condos. But the realities of the arithmetic are forcing people to make choices they otherwise would not."

The other option is to purchase an older home and make a longer commute.

The $140,000 home hardly exists anymore, notes Erickson. So household budgets are stretched thin.

"A household shouldn't have to spend more than 30 percent of its income on housing-related costs," Erickson says. "But we know that a lot of renters and home-buyers are spending 40 to 50 percent of their wages for housing."

Big problem for Park City

Centerville's police-officer-housing difficulties pale next to Park City's, where the average home sold for $952,175 in 2006.

In this Summit County celebrity hot spot, city leaders had to run interference against market forces to enable some of its 28 sworn officers to live within the community.

The city provides a $250-per-month housing allowance to officers who reside within the Park City School District. It also subsidizes a limited number of town homes in the city.

"We go the extra mile to help our officers live here," says Lt. Phil Kirk. "If they do, they have more of an investment in the community."

Base pay in the mining town turned mountain resort begins at $15 an hour, but Kirk says the department often hires seasoned officers who enter at a higher rate. Of the city's 28 officers, four live in city-subsidized units, five within the school district's boundaries.

The remainder make a longer commute - and pay a monthly, pro-rated fee to drive their patrol cars home.

"Sometimes we'll lose an officer to the [Salt Lake] Valley, where it's more affordable," Kirk says. "Some want a shorter commute and can't afford to live up here."

Detective Mike Fierro, 55, takes full advantage of the Park City department's incentives. His wife works as a city dispatcher, so they each qualify for the $250 housing allowance - and they rent a subsidized two-bedroom unit for $844 a month. His commute takes all of five minutes.

The 26-year veteran cop previously worked for South Salt Lake and Salt Lake City - metropolitan areas where the volume of police calls is much larger.

"This is a fantastic working environment. It's a little more laid back - and we get to interact more with the community," Fierro says. "Here we have the luxury to follow up on everything, and as an investigator, that's a lot of fun."

The Fierros hope to someday be able to buy a home in the Park City area. But for now, renting the smallish town home must suffice.

"The costs [for something bigger] are prohibitive," he says.

Bigger bang for the buck

The southeast Salt Lake Valley city of Draper has exploded in size from 4,995 people in 1990 to 36,445 in 2006.

During that same period, the city's average household income rose from $32,357 to $115,250.

"There is housing our officers can afford to buy here, but their choices are very limited," says Draper Sgt. Gerald Allred. "At base pay - about $40,000 a year - they can't afford the nicer homes in the city."

Allred believes that of the city's 32 sworn officers, only two live in Draper - he and Police Chief Mac Connole. Allred said he purchased his home several years ago.

Draper offers a restricted vehicle take-home policy, which allows officers to use their cars for work-related travel and their commute within a 25-mile radius.

"We really like our community and want our officers to be part of it," Allred says. "But it goes back to choice. You can get more for your money in a neighboring city."

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* CATHY MCKITRICK can be contacted at cmckitrick @sltrib.com or 801-257-8778.

"We go the extra mile to help our officers live here. . . . If they do, they have more of an investment in the community."

PHIL KIRK

Park City police lieutenant