The non-exempt Police Labor Agreement was ratified on March 1, 2017 and the non-exempt Fire Rescue Labor Agreement was ratified on January 3, 2018. Neither of the Labor Agreements addressed the exempt members of Police and Fire Rescue, which further exacerbated the compression between ranks.
Both Police and Fire Rescue Labor Agreements provide for 7-Year Step Plans for all non-exempt Sworn Police and Fire Rescue Personnel, to include Police Officers, Police Sergeants, Firefighters, Fire Driver Engineers, Fire Captains, and Division Chiefs.
The following salary schedules are recommended by staff to ensure that qualified members of Police and Fire Rescue are not adversely impacted by seeking promotion and advancement within their respective organizations.
|
Positon Classification
|
Salary Range
|
|
|
Police Captain
|
$87,687 - $124,464
|
(7-Year Step Plan) |
|
Police Major/Assistant Fire Chief
|
$96,674 - $137,222
|
(7-Year Step Plan) |
|
Assistant Chief/Deputy Chief
|
$108,754 - $154,374
|
7-Year Step Plan |
|
Police/Fire Chief
|
$123,383 - $175,133
|
No Step Plan |
In both Law Enforcement and the Fire Rescue Service, personnel are encouraged to seek promotion over the course of their careers. The current salary plan discourages personnel to seek promotion because of the salary and reduced benefits. There have been several recent situations where employees declined promotions due to the potential for lost wages.
The existing salary schedule has public safety personnel co-located in salary schedules/grades with other non-public safety personnel. In order to avoid conflicts during future salary adjustments, staff recommends placing all Police and Fire Rescue Personnel in separate salary schedules.
The cost to implement the proposed changes for FY2019 is $116,295, plus an additional $29,073. in pension costs. Upon approval, the City would implement the plan on October 1, 2018. Employees with salaries below the new starting salary will be placed in Step 2 and employees currently above the starting salary will be placed in the appropriate step commensurate with years of service, but not more than two (2) steps. In order to phase in the plan over several years, employees will advance a maximum of two steps annually until reaching the step commensurate with the years of service at the classification. The 7-Year Steps do not apply to the Police Chief or Fire Chief.