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North Port police demand hefty pay increases |
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Written by By GINNY LAROE
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Saturday, 17 February 2007 |
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The North Port police are asking to be among the highest-paid officers from Tampa to Naples, under a proposal submitted to city officials Friday.
Base pay for officers in the growing department would start at $42,400, and lieutenants at the top of their pay grades would earn $92,553, putting North Port above all but one of the 13 law enforcement agencies the Police Benevolent Association studied.
During seven hours of negotiations over the contract -- which includes overtime policies, benefits and other policies -- the two sides failed to come to an agreement over wages. Assistant City Manager Danny Schult, the chief negotiator for the city, would not comment on whether the city would meet the police demands. And he did not provide a counteroffer on Friday.
Schult said the city will do a study based on the union's proposal. He is expected to have a fiscal impact statement by next week's meeting.
On the table is the city's offer of 7 to 17 percent raises, depending on rank and seniority, an offer police rejected last month. It would have put starting officers at $37,985 a year and topped out lieutenants at $73,876.
Fueling police demands is a massive overhaul of wages for the city's nonbargaining unit employees. Just as the police contract expired last fall, the city gave almost every other employee double-digit percentage point raises. Most received more than 35 percent increases, and some saw 80 percent raises.
"They are giving us a model and justification for what we are proposing," said Robert McCabe, an attorney representing the police union.
The negotiations are now in their 11th month. When the two sides come to an agreement over wages and other language in the contract, the approximately 100 officers and dispatchers that comprise the union will vote on it.
The city offered dispatchers pay raises of around 25 percent to 57 percent, which is just shy of what the union is asking for.
The department's top brass -- captains and the police chief -- are not bargaining employees, and their salaries will not be affected by the negotiations.
The City Commission, not involved in talks thus far, will have final approval.
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