The POLICEPAY Journal®

Thursday July 7, 2005

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NEW YORK CITY

2005 Duties, 1985 Pay For NYPD's Next Rookies

NEW YORK CITY

New Contract For NYC Police Officers

INDIANAPOLIS, IN

Mayor: Police Merger Certain

CHULA VISTA, CA

Chula Vista's Police Officers Back New Pact

VENICE, FL

Police To Consider Latest Offer

ALLENTOWN, PA

FOP: Allentown Firefighters Deal Is Illegal

FAUQUIER CO, VA

Fauquier Lags In Deputy Pay

BATON ROUGE, LA

Holden, Police Union Reportedly Near New Deal

VERO BEACH, FL

Vero Approves 16% Hike In Police Pay

TEMPE, AZ

Tempe Boosts Police Pay

Look At The Last Issue (6/30/05)

 

Chula Vista's police officers back new pact
Contract will push pay to highest levels in county

From the San Diego Tribune, July 7, 2005

 

A proposed five-year contract that will gradually raise salaries of Chula Vista police 25 percent by 2010 was overwhelmingly endorsed this week by the city's police officers.

 

Nearly 98 percent of the Chula Vista Police Officers Association's membership voted in favor of the pact between the city and the 219-member group, union President Billy Cox said.

 

The contract that would cost the city $17.6 million through 2010 will be considered for ratification this summer by the City Council. A meeting date has not been set.

 

"I'm personally happy with it," Cox said. "I want to say to citizens in Chula Vista that we're appreciative of the fact that they pay their taxes, and we're going to work hard for them."

 

With the city working to develop its bay front and downtown, Cox said: "This allows the city to know what its expenditures will be. And employees know they're going to be taken care of."

 

Under the proposed contract, a 10 percent raise would go into effect Jan. 1. Cox said that with the raise, Chula Vista police would have the second-highest salaries among law enforcement countywide. Only Escondido police would be paid more, he said.

 

And, with a proposed 4 percent raise planned on Jan. 1, 2007, Chula Vista police officers would become the county's highest-paid.

 

Under the pact, a starting officer's base monthly salary would increase to $5,875 in January 2006, from $5,341, and a top lieutenant's pay would rise to $8,929 from $7,931. By 2010, a starting officer would be paid a base monthly salary of $6,806, while a top-ranked officer would be paid $10,346.

Police officer salaries were compared with those of 10 law enforcement agencies in San Diego County. Starting officer's monthly base pay countywide will range next January from a low of $4,869 at the La Mesa Police Department to a high of $5,888 at the Escondido Police Department, Chula Vista officials said.

 

Contract highlights

10 percent salary increase Jan. 1.

 

3 percent to 4 percent cost-of-living increases each January beginning in 2007 through 2010.

 

In January 2008, the city will review salaries for parity with similar law enforcement agencies countywide.

 

25 percent total raise through to 2010; cost to city: $17.6 million.

 

 

Police to consider latest offer

From the Venice Sun, July 6, 2005

 

Union meeting Thursday night could lead to a vote on whether the city's most recent contract should be accepted.

 

Venice police officers passed the nine-month mark last Friday of working under an expired contract.

 

Union members will get a look at the city's latest offer tomorrow, which could potentially lead to a vote.

 

Fraternal Order of Police lead negotiator Paul Murphy is not expecting a vote. The goal of Thursday's meeting is to review the offer from city management.

 

"We have to give it time for everyone to digest it," Murphy said. "Procedurally, (the contract offer) has to be posted. This is an informational meeting . ... Whether or not they take a vote there that night, it will all depend on the number of members."

 

The city's most recent offer would give Venice police officers the second-highest law enforcement salaries in Sarasota County, trailing only city of Sarasota police.

 

Union members agreed several months ago to focus on salary amounts and stop pushing on issues like take-home vehicles, having to pay for health insurance and the amount paid into their retirement fund. Venice police officers have been working under an expired contract since last October.

 

One for three

 

Another obstacle to negotiations has been the city council directive that union contracts are to be three-year agreements. Many of the FOP offers have been for only two years.

 

As it is, if this proposal is adopted, the contract would be retroactive to Oct. 1, 2004, meaning it's set to expire in just more than two years.

 

Here are the latest salary offerings:

 

* Starting salary -- $34,800 as of October 2004; $35,800 as of October 2005; and $37,000 as of October 2006. Current starting salary is $33,322.

 

* Top-out salary -- As of October 2004, a sixth step would be added making the top salary $52,000; in October 2005 a seventh step would be added making top salary $53,750; and in October 2006 an eighth step added making the top salary $55,750.

Current top-out salary is reached at year five at $49,249.

 

"We're hopeful they will accept it," City Manager Marty Black said in a previous interview.

 

 

FOP: Allentown firefighters deal is illegal

Council members deny negotiating, say they seek labor peace.

From The Morning Call, July 6, 2005

A news conference called to announce a labor truce with Allentown firefighters Tuesday erupted into a verbal battle between City Council members and leaders of the Fraternal Order of Police.

The confrontation demonstrated council still has a way to go before it can claim it has patched up its strained relationship with the police.

Police union President Don French approached Councilman Julio Guridy from the back of council chambers in City Hall at the end of the event and accused him of improperly negotiating with the International Association of Fire Fighters.

Under the city charter, contract negotiations are reserved for the mayor.

''You negotiated,'' French told Guridy.

Guridy denied that, saying City Council simply talked with firefighter union officials in an effort to repair a relationship that had been hurt by council's court challenge of the union's new contract.

''I think it was an issue of 'Can we come to a cooperative atmosphere?''' said Guridy, who faces re-election in November.

The dispute stems from council's legal fight to block labor contracts awarded both the police and fire unions by arbitrators in 2004.

The lawsuits, on appeal to Commonwealth Court, have muddied the city's financial picture and forced both employee groups to work under the terms of expired contracts since January.

But last week, Guridy led three other members of council in reaching a deal with the firefighters, agreeing to drop that challenge in exchange for a minor concession from the firefighters union.

Police union leaders also met with council but were unable to reach a similar agreement, and said any proposed deal needed to come from the mayor's office anyway.

Past FOP President Kevin Smith pressed Guridy, saying he was negotiating improperly just to help council wiggle out of a bad situation.

Both lawsuits were thrown out by Lehigh County Court judges before being appealed, and council has spent more than $40,000 pursuing the cases.

''Now you're in trouble,'' Smith told Guridy.

''I don't know what you're talking about,'' Guridy replied.

''That wouldn't be unusual,'' Smith shot back.

Guridy said Smith apologized afterward.

Four members of council — Guridy, Louis Hershman, David Bausch and David M. Howells Sr. — agreed to vote to drop council's legal challenge if the union agreed to remove a clause in the contract that sets a minimum of 140 firefighters.

Howells has opposed the challenge from the start.

But Councilman Tom Burke said the union's contract is still too expensive, violates state pension laws and usurps council's right to determine the size of the city work force. He said he'll vote not to drop the suit.

''There is not much for me to say. The arguments remain the same. They have changed their minds,'' Burke said. ''I don't think trading 140 [the minimum staffing level] for dropping the suit is a good deal.''

Mayor Roy Afflerbach, who said he served as intermediary in the deal to avoid direct negotiations between council and the unions, said the firefighters' concession was minor because the city is unlikely to ever drop below 140 firefighters. The total number of firefighters might be moot, he said, because the contract also sets minimum staffing per shift.

''I don't believe it is much of a concession at all,'' Afflerbach said.

Afflerbach said the police union would not drop the minimum staffing level of 230 officers in its contract without getting something in return — scuttling efforts to settle that contract fight.

The mayor said he has drafted a memorandum that would remove the 140-firefighter minimum from the firefighters contract and would sign it if council votes later this month to drop its lawsuit.

The deal would allow some senior firefighters to take advantage of an early retirement incentive that, combined with some minor health benefit changes, would create $80,000 to $100,000 in savings for the city this year, Afflerbach estimated.

The seven-year deal includes annual cost-of-living raises, plus 3 percent pay increases in 2007 and 2008, and a no-layoff clause.

Firefighters also may be in for a small bonus. Under the new contract, union members would pay less of their salaries — 5 percent instead of 8 percent — into the city pension fund. The city is expected to refund the difference retroactive to Jan. 1.

 

Mayor: police merger certain
Key leaders line up to negotiate cop consolidation

From the IBJ, July 4, 2005

 

The stars have finally aligned for a police merger. The key stakeholders are aboard and Mayor Bart Peterson, who has always qualified his cop consolidation plan as hypothetical, now openly predicts its success.

Speaking directly on the subject for the first time, Peterson, a Democrat, told IBJ the General Assembly wrote a "blank check" allowing a merger between the Indianapolis Police Department and the Marion County Sheriff's Department.

He intends to see it cashed.

"It's going to happen. We've been authorized by the Legislature to do it," Peterson said. "We'll get it done."

Peterson has also established a timetable. The City-County Council is holding police consolidation hearings. The mayor, who has already eliminated 78 IPD officers, has said he'll cut 48 more if the merger isn't approved by year's end.

The police union, which formerly opposed a merger, has reversed its position. Fraternal Order of Police Lodge No. 86 President Vince Huber endorsed the idea, provided his members' long-standing concerns about pay, promotions and pension are settled.

"Most members have said consolidation is a good concept," Huber said. "It just needs to be done right."

Approval by the City-County Council is the merger's last remaining legal hurdle. The Council has established a law-enforcement consolidation subcommittee. Its leader, Councilor Mary Moriarty Adams, is holding a series of meetings to determine a consolidation's cost savings and safety enhancement.

Both she and fellow Democrat Steve Talley, Council president, expect the merger to draw bipartisan support when it comes to a vote.

And even if they can't broker Republican approval, Democrats hold a one-vote majority on the 29-member Council.

"I can't imagine all 15 of us wouldn't step up to the plate," Adams said.

Cop cuts

On June 29, Peterson announced $30 million in emergency cuts from Indianapolis' $542 million city budget. Along with another $2.5 million in planned fees, the cuts will patch a $32.5 million hole.

Most every city department felt the knife. For example, Parks and Recreation will see its pool season shortened, its lawns mowed less often, and its number of portable toilets reduced. Public Works will reduce non-emergency hazardous-waste cleanup, ease non-regulatory water-quality monitoring, and eliminate residential street sweeping. The city will lose 189 employees by not replacing any who leave.

But public safety departments took the deepest cuts. In anticipation that Peterson's Indianapolis Works consolidation plan might fail, the city began six months ago quietly leaving unfilled jobs open. The now-formalized attrition process will ultimately eliminate 78 police officers and 44 firefighters. Peterson also reduced IPD's helicopter fleet from five to two, cut 10 civilian positions, and reorganized IPD's brass.

"I am not pointing the finger of blame at anybody," he said. "This is the situation. This is the hand we as a city were dealt, and we have to play that hand."

IPD Chief Michael Spears is making the best of the situation, shuffling reduced personnel to maintain police presence on the streets. The police union is helping shepherd the process. Its chilly rapport with Peterson two years ago slowed negotiations over cop contracts to a crawl. The relationship has thawed somewhat.

Even so, there's no way to completely shield the public from the effect of losing so much personnel, Huber said.

"Losing 78 officers will have a negative impact on public safety," he said. "Something is going to give."

If the General Assembly passes next session the remaining portions of Indianapolis Works, the mayor's sweeping proposal to consolidate all sorts of local government services, the positions will be restored, Peterson said.

A police merger would save $9.7 million annually, he said, and Indianapolis Works as a whole would save $35 million a year.

Consolidation timetable

The Council's consolidation subcommittee has already heard IPD's financial presentation. On July 6, Marion County Sheriff Frank Anderson, a Democrat, will make his. After that, an open meeting will invite testimony from the public and the airport police, which are also included in the merger. A week later, both departments will make presentations on crime statistics.

In August, Adams plans a series of visits to cities that have consolidated their police, such as Louisville; Nashville, Tenn.; and Charlotte, N.C. The trips will be at least partially underwritten by the Greater Indianapolis Chamber of Commerce, she said.

Peterson may have learned a lesson from this year's failed Indianapolis Works negotiations in the General Assembly. Some critics felt his plan was crafted behind closed doors, then dictated from the 25th floor of the City-County Building.

"I think the biggest mistake the mayor made on Indianapolis Works is he didn't consult anybody. He did it all on his own. You just can't get good buy-in that way," said Phil Borst, Republican minority leader on the City-County Council. "If you really want to be bipartisan, you've got to bring people in from the beginning and work with them."

That's why the case for a police merger is clearly being laid brick by brick. And Democrats are paying particular attention to the foundation.

"It's going to be pretty intense for the next six to eight weeks," Adams said.

The Council first needs to see more hard financial data, she said. If it shows the promised savings, "I have no doubt this would be wrapped up by the end of the year. ... The thing is, if there are savings there, we need to capture them as soon as we can and as much as we can."

Practical questions, like the color of uniforms or the best way to redeploy a combined force, would be left to a transition team of law-enforcement officials, Adams said. To overcome identity struggles, Spears envisions leaving most IPD officers downtown and most sheriff's deputies in the suburbs. Eventually, new personnel won't even remember the old divisions.

"It's my hope [officers will] keep an open mind about it," Spears said.

Money isn't the merger's only motivation. Its supporters also argue it will improve safety across Marion County. Anderson has been pleading for more deputies since he campaigned in 2002. A combined force would shore up the fight against rising property crime. Department statistics show it's jumped 15 percent across the county in the last two years.

"Even if the dollar savings weren't there, but we could increase police protection from county line to county line, I would still recommend we move forward with the merger," Talley said.

But it will have to be structured carefully so as not to thin ranks too much in the city's center. Statistics show the vast majority of violent crime still occurs in IPD's district. For every violent crime sheriff's deputies responded to last year, statistics show, IPD officers handled nearly five.

Possible snags

There are a couple of potential bumps that could still derail the merger.

The police union--which supported Peterson's opponent in the last election--has calmed its rancor against the mayor. Now it is focused on getting the most it can out of consolidation.

But Huber's new cordial relationship with Peterson could chill, if he believes union concerns are getting only lip service.

Negotiations have not yet even begun on the next IPD contract. The current one expires at the end of the year. The city struggled to maintain a unified negotiating front with Marion County during the last cycle, and the police union took advantage of the opening. It struck a separate deal for sheriff's deputies that came back to haunt the city.

To bolster its own position, the city will almost certainly delay the parley over the next contract until after consolidation is in the books, which pushes the police union to the merger table.

"The concept is good," Huber said. "But the devil is in the details."

Ultimately, the biggest hurdle may be Peterson's fellow Democrat, Sheriff Anderson, who has offered only lukewarm support. From the start, Anderson has consistently said he'll follow the "will of the people," with one caveat. He believes the sheriff, as the highest elected law enforcement official, should lead his department.

But Peterson's original police merger plan asked Anderson to report to a three-member metropolitan police commission. The mayor would appoint two of its members and the Council would appoint the third.

To get a consolidated police department, much like the Indianapolis Colts' new stadium, Peterson may have to give up control to another elected official.

"Hopefully, everybody's going to realize we work for the people and we've got to get about the business of doing the people's work," Anderson said. "My position is that, if the law decides that's what I'm to do, or the people decide, that's what I will do."

 

Fauquier lags in deputy pay

From the Citizen, June 30, 2005

 

They come, they train, they leave.

 

Fauquier deputies on average collect the smallest paychecks in the region, creating high turnover in the sheriff's office.

 

Thirty-seven deputies have resigned since March 2003, according to statistics from the sheriff's office, which employs 98 sworn officers.

 

About half of the 37 who left did so for more money, sheriff's office Accounting Manager Beth Healy said.

 

They don't go far, though.

 

Fairfax, Loudoun, Prince William and even smaller counties, such Culpeper, Warren, Rappahannock and Clarke, pay more than Fauquier, where a rookie deputy earns $29,115 a year.

 

Five former Fauquier deputies work in his office, which pays starting salaries of $32,000, Culpeper sheriff's Sgt. Jim Fox said.

 

"You always want more money," Sgt. Fox said.

 

Culpeper deputies will receive a $5,000 pay raise for fiscal 2006, which starts July 1.

Rappahannock's 25 deputies will get $4,000 to $6,000 raises in the new fiscal year. The tiny county pays rookie deputies $30,350, the second-lowest of nine counties sampled in the region.

 

Deputies and police officers in Loudoun, Prince William and Fairfax counties continue to distance themselves from Fauquier, thanks to a so-called Northern Virginia "pay differential" from the state compensation board.

 

Rookies in those three counties earn $37,000 to $42,600.

 

The Culpeper sheriff's office participates in job fairs throughout the region, competing with the higher-paying jurisdictions. It has helped to build the county's force of more than 100, Sgt. Fox said.

 

Fauquier Lt. Col. Dave Flohr can't remember the last time this county's sheriff's office participated in a job fair anywhere.

 

"It's embarrassing" to attend job fairs, Lt. Flohr said. "Why would someone take a job here when they can do the same job just down the road and make $5,000 or $6,000 more?"

 

The low pay affects the quality of applicants, most of whom have yet to attend the police academy when they take a job here, Lt. Col. Flohr explained.

 

"We're improving, but we're not able to hang in there with Northern Virginia," board of supervisors Chairman Ray Graham (Cedar Run District) admitted. "We just can't match it."

 

The sheriff's office budget includes funding from the state compensation board and county government.

 

In fiscal 2006, the state will give the sheriff's office $3 million, which will pay for 89 positions. The county will add more than $5 million to that total to create an $8-million budget.

 

The state approved a 4.4-percent raise for all constitutional officers and their staffs, effective July 1, but Sheriff Charlie Ray Fox Jr. thinks his office hasn't received its fair share.

 

Because the county surpasses the state in funding for the sheriff's office, the county "absorbs" that 4.4 percent and distributes it based on need, Mr. Graham said.

"That ain't fair," Sheriff Fox said. "That money was meant for law enforcement."

 

He sometimes feels the outsider, a Democrat battling a Republican-dominated board of supervisors, the former state trooper admitted.

 

"I can't help but feel that sometimes," Sheriff Fox said. "I hope that's not the case."

Supervisors noted the upstart sheriff's party affiliations during elections, "but that fades quickly," said Marshall District Supervisor Harry Atherton, the board's lone independent.

 

Party affiliation plays no role in sheriff's office funding, Mr. Graham said adamantly.

"No matter who wins or loses, we have a responsibility," Mr. Graham said. "We're all supposed to be protecting our folks."

 

Mr. Atherton thought the sheriff seemed more focused on getting more deputies this year, not more pay.

 

"He sets the salaries," Mr. Atherton added. "All he'd have to do is come to us with a bigger budget."

 

The sheriff asked for 10 new deputies in his fiscal 2006 budget request. The board gave him four.

 

He has pushed for higher salaries since his first day in office, Sheriff Fox asserted.

The sheriff and Mr. Graham - as well as other board members - talked one-on-one several times about turnover caused by low salaries, the supervisor said.

 

One-third of his deputies live in Culpeper, because they can't afford housing in Fauquier, the sheriff said. He can't see what would stop some of those deputies from taking a higher-paying job in the county where they live.

 

"The writing's on the wall," Sheriff Fox said. "What are (the supervisors) going to do, wait until the bottom drops out?"

 

The sheriff's office administration will determine which deputies receive performance-based pay raises this year. Some won't get a dime; others will get 3.5- to 5-percent increases.

 

County teachers will get a $3,000 pay raise each of the next three years, according to the school board's plan. A starting teacher with a bachelor's degree earns $34,750, a salary that would reach $41,000 by 2007-08, under the plan. (That depends on board of supervisors' funding.)

 

"Nothing against teachers, but they don't do shift work and put their lives on the line," the sheriff said.

 

All other county employees get raises based on performance.

 

The sheriff's office last winter completed a study in which it found internal pay inequities totaling $150,000 among deputies with the same ranks and experience.

Mr. Graham wants an across-the-board pay increase for deputies in fiscal 2007.

 

To pay for that, he explained, the county would lower the amount of the performance-based pay raises.

 

The supervisors might adopt a new pay plan based on the recommendations of Springsted Inc., a Minnesota-based consulting firm that will evaluate Fauquier's salaries and employee classifications.

 

Rookie deputies could earn higher pay by January 2006, Mr. Graham said.

The new pay plan would raise starting deputy salaries a few thousand dollars, he added, probably matching those in Culpeper at $32,000.

 

The sheriff's office recently wrote new contracts, which would make new hires pay for their training costs if they resign before two years on the job.

 

The county probably will approve those contracts July 20.

 

Sheriff's officers still worry that deputies might pay the price to quit early if they land higher-paying jobs elsewhere.

 

"At least we'll be able to hold their feet to the fire for a while," Lt. Col. Flohr said.

 

 

 

2005 duties, 1985 pay for NYPD's next rookies

From the Daliy News, June 29, 2005

 

Rookie cops will earn a paltry $25,100 a year under a new contract approved by a state arbitration panel - the lowest starting salary for NYPD officers in at least 20 years.

 

The drastic pay cut is designed to help fund a 10.25% raise over two years for officers already on the payroll. But critics fear it will harm the NYPD's ability to recruit new cops.

 

"How can the city justify having young police officers strap on a gun belt and a bulletproof vest for $25,000 a year?" a nine-year NYPD veteran asked yesterday. "This is absolutely ridiculous."

 

The previous starting pay for NYPD rookies was about $36,000 plus an annual uniform allowance, holiday pay and health insurance.

 

Under the new pact, recruits will earn $25,100 a year while they are in the Police Academy - more than $7,000 less than rookies in Suffolk County and the MTA, Port Authority and state police departments.

 

Despite the disparity, the chairman of the arbitration panel defended the new rookie salary. "They have not yet experienced the dangers, the stress and the responsibilities of incumbent police officers," Chairman Eric Schmertz wrote.

 

Mayor Bloomberg, who had wanted to grant cops a raise of no more than 5% over three years, said last night the Patrolmen's Benevolent Association "chose" to lower rookie salaries in exchange for higher pay for veterans.

 

He added that the city had set aside $800 million to cover the PBA's new contract and similar deals that may now be struck with city firefighters and correction officers.

But like the cops, Bloomberg added, other unions will have to submit to the same salary reductions for new hires - or find equivalent savings.

 

Asked how the city would hire 3,000 cops a year with lower pay, the mayor responded, "We are going to find out. But whether we can or we can't, that is the way the arbitrator ruled."

 

But NYPD officials dismissed concerns about recruitment.

 

Deputy Police Commissioner Paul Browne noted that more than 85,481 candidates have applied for fewer than 10,000 openings since 2002.

 

The new NYPD salary rises to $34,000 after 18 months and reaches $38,000 after 2-1/2 years.

 

The base pay tops out at $59,588 after 51/2 years. All cops will have to give up one personal day, and accept as many as 15 scheduling changes to their tours, up from 10. The average cop also will get $13,700 in back pay.

 

PBA President Patrick Lynch said the arbitration decision "puts us in the right direction." But he argued the rookie pay "is not in the long-term interest of the city."

 

Cash crunch

 

City cops won a significant pay raise, but their new salaries still trail many other major police departments around the nation:

 

Maximum base salary

Nassau $93,079
Suffolk $84,545
San Jose, Calif. $80,255
San Francisco $76,055
Port Authority $75,719
Los Angeles $71,090
Yonkers $68,579
Chicago $64,962
NYPD $59,588

 

Rookie salary

Suffolk $49,634
N.Y. State Police $48,907
MTA Police $33,000
Port Authority $32,500
NYPD $25,100
Nassau $23,000

Source: New York State Public Employment Relations Board

 

 

New Contract For NYC Police Officers

City Gets Some Productivity Savings In New Deal

Jun 28, 2005

NEW YORK (CBS) A state arbitration panel has awarded the city’s police officers a retroactive pay raise of about 10.25 percent over two years, rejecting a lower hike proposed by Mayor Michael Bloomberg, officials said Tuesday.

The arbitration panel began considering the matter in November after the city and the Patrolmen’s Benevolent Association failed to reach an agreement during two years of bitter negotiations.

The panel’s chairman, Eric J. Schmertz, called the bad blood counterproductive. At times, off-duty officers and firefighters—also without a contract—hounded Bloomberg with protests outside his home and at appearances during last summer’s Republican National Convention, while the mayor sought to cast union leaders as political opportunists.

“I am distressed at the apparent confrontational relationship between these two parties,” Schmertz wrote in a 35-page ruling. “Bluntly, it is too antagonistic, too angry and too reciprocally suspicious.”

Schmertz indicated the panel was swayed by the PBA argument that its 22,000 members were vastly underpaid compared to officers in other large cities and in suburbs on Long Island and elsewhere.

The panel noted that the previous top annual salary for uniformed officers at the New York Police Department -- $54,048 -- was less than those paid in 12 other cities, including Dallas, Chicago and Los Angeles, and in smaller jurisdictions like Jersey City, N.J., and Yonkers, N.Y. The NYPD’s new top salary is $59,588.

Because the officers’ contract expired on July 31, 2002, they will receive an average of $13,700 in back pay, the union said. A new contract still must be negotiated.

The Bloomberg administration had wanted to give the officers 4 to 5 percent raise over three years—the same amount given to District Council 37, the city’s largest municipal labor union.

But Bloomberg said Tuesday that the contract “contains the necessary cost-savings and productivity to give our Police Officers the increases they deserve. It has been this administration’s goal to have a more flexible, efficient and better paid workforce and this award furthers that goal.”

Union president Patrick Lynch hailed the raise as “a step in the right direction.” However, he criticized the arbitration panel’s decision to allow the NYPD to pay lower salaries to police recruits.

“This reduction in starting salary for future hires is not in the long-term interest of the city,” he said.

The previous starting pay for recruits was about $36,000. Under the decision, new hires will start at $25,100, then receive $32,700 after six months and $34,000 after 18 months.

                              

 

Holden, police union reportedly near new deal
From the Advocate, June 27, 2005

 

Mayor-President Kip Holden announced Monday that he and Baton Rouge police union officials are getting closer in their efforts to negotiate a new contract.

 

Police union officials have asked city-parish officials for a $9 million package that includes pay raises and benefits.

 

Holden said the negotiations are still ongoing under a six-month temporary contract that he signed with the union in January.

 

Until a long-term solution is negotiated, the temporary contract with automatically renew from month to month, Holden said.

 

Holden's chief administrative officer, Walter Monsour, said that the police union had indicated a willingness to phase in any negotiated police pay raise over three years to ease the impact on city-parish finances.

 

However, Monsour said he's currently scrubbing the city-parish budget in search of money to fund a police pay raise, possibly all at one time.

 

"I would rather have the money in place and start it without phasing it in. So my task is to find the money that we mutually agree will be the size of the raise," Monsour said.

 

Monsour said the Baton Rouge Police Department budget for this year totals about $53 million and includes more than 600 employees, of which about 380 are police officers.

 

On behalf of the local police union, John Gonzales said the union had been pushing for special incentive pay for officers to keep themselves in shape, but abandoned that proposal during the negotiations because of the impact on city-parish finances.

 

Still to be decided is how many of the 600-plus employees of the Baton Rouge Police Department will be covered by the new pay plan.

 

Also to be decided is whether the city-parish should provide auto insurance coverage for off-duty police officers who work after duty to provide security for subdivisions or private businesses.

 

"We believe it's a benefit to the city of Baton Rouge to have as many police officers in uniform, regardless of whether they are off duty or on duty — in my opinion, police officers are always on duty," Monsour said.

 

Police Chief Jeff LeDuff acknowledged that he recently raised the off-duty pay for such officers from $18 per hour to $20 per hour.

 

"That's still a bargain for the security provided by a sworn police officer," LeDuff said.

A study by the police union, updated in 2004, shows local police officers are paid less than their counterparts in cities of similar size.

 

The police union study shows the Baton Rouge police starting salary of $27,507 a year is well below pay for starting officers in Shreveport ($31,070); Memphis, Tenn. ($39,369); and Raleigh, N.C. ($31,070).

 

The police union study also found similar gaps between Baton Rouge officers with one year of experience, who receive a salary of $31,795. The same survey shows that officers with one year of experience received $43,872 in Arlington, Texas, and $35,470 in Hialeah, Fla.

 

The 15-city study also shows that a veteran Baton Rouge officer with 10 years experience receives $38,812 a year, also below most of the 14 other cities in the survey. A 10-year police veteran in Lubbock, Texas, for instance, is paid $53,296.

 

 

Vero approves 16% hike in police pay

From the TCPalm.com, June 25, 2005

 

VERO BEACH — City police officers will receive a 16 percent salary increase in a three-year contract recently approved by the City Council and the police union.

 

"It's a very good contract," said Police Chief Jim Gabbard, who is serving as interim city manager. "It keeps us on pace with other surrounding police departments."

 

Union representatives from the Coastal Florida Police Benevolent Association Thursday could not be reached for comment.

 

The agreement covers the period of Oct. 1 to Sept. 30, 2008, and will affect the salaries of 54 of the city's 65 officers. The new pay package will cost $368,000, said Human Resources Manager Lynne George.

 

"We wanted to be competitive with other cities," she said. "We're not as high as some, but we're not the low ones, either."

 

Also, the contract raises the police officer differential for working midnight to 8 a.m. from $50 to $80.

 

The agreement didn't add Easter to the list of paid holidays the union wanted.

"No other city employees have it and they already get Good Friday off," George said.

 

Another contract provision provides for the police chief and union representatives to establish criteria for officers transferring between divisions.

 

The contract also increases annual reimbursement for damaged or lost eyeglasses to $350, and sunglasses and watches to $75. The three previously had a $50 replacement cap.

 

Salaries

 

The following is a list of the minimum and maximum annual salaries for Vero Beach police officers:

 

Salary range for police officers

CURRENT — $33,362 to $53,023

FISCAL 2006 — $34,008 to $54,350

FISCAL 2007 — $35,360 to $56,534

FISCAL 2008 — $36,254 to $57,948

 

Salary range for corporals

CURRENT — $42,230 to $57,410

FISCAL 2006 — $42,660 to $59,737

FISCAL 2007 — $44,366 to $62,129

FISCAL 2008 — $45,468 to $63,689

 

Salary range for sergeants

CURRENT — $48,000 to $63,347

FISCAL 2006 — $48,484 to $66,560

FISCAL 2007 — $50,419 to $69,222

FISCAL 2008 — $51,688 to $70,948

 

   

 

Tempe boosts police, firefighter pay

From the Arizona Republic, June 21

 

Keeping up with the Joneses is pushing Tempe to increase salaries for police officers and firefighters this year in an attempt to fight for recruits as other public safety departments across Arizona do the same.

A state retirement program that extends retirement dates in order to keep expertise on the streets will begin having the opposite effect as the retirement dates approach en masse. As a result, police and fire departments across the state are vying for qualified prospects to fill the void using starting salaries and benefits.

"Losing out creates kind of a brain drain that we don't want to see," said Kerby Rapp, president of the Tempe Officers Association. "It's a serious problem when the best and brightest are being drawn away by better money elsewhere."

To address the problem, the Tempe City Council has approved pay increases for the Police and Fire departments in their new contracts. Despite a looming budget deficit, Tempe officials said the city could save money because of a new way to distribute raises.

The city could lose out on $3 million to $6 million in state-shared revenue, or money distributed based on population, depending on the mid-decade census tally and the state Legislature, City Manager Will Manley said.

To combat the cuts, the city switched to basing pay increases on the "market" rather than the "cost of living." That means that instead of doling out raises across the board based on how much the cost of living went up, the city would increase pay only for those whose jobs demand an increase to stay competitive.

Most city employees won't be seeing much in the way of raises as a result of the new method, except police and firefighters. The move became official when the council recently approved the contracts after about eight months of negotiations.

The new contracts include a 7.5 percent increase in the caps for each police salary range, and an across-the-board 2.5 percent increase for firefighters.

This year, Tempe ranked about 17th in the state in starting pay, paying new officers $40,751 a year. The change will bring Tempe up to about No. 3 and will add about $3,600.

The move is hoped to lure recruits to Tempe, said Rapp, who served as the Tempe association's lead negotiator.

The firefighter pay raise was handed out for similar reasons, said Rich Worth, who led the negotiations for the fire union. It's not unusual to lose prospective firefighters to better-paying cities such as Phoenix or Chandler, he said. The move will bring Tempe up to the fourth- or fifth-highest pay in the Valley.

That's not to say the rest of Tempe's employees are missing the gravy train that's handing out this year's raises. Public Works employees negotiated a perk that was later passed on to Tempe's entire workforce: A one-time, 1 percent pay increase for workers who won't get a step increase or "market" raise. The increase will come in the form of a bonus paycheck, union negotiator Gail Gabler said.

It was Public Works' first union contact to be passed after employees organized in 2004.


 

 

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