Police Contract Boosts Starting Pay And Expands Pension Benefits

By Andrew Gorosko

Following more than a year of negotiations, the Newtown Police Union and the town have approved a new police labor contract which significantly increases the starting pay for patrolmen, and for the first time provides town-paid medical insurance coverage as a pension benefit for retirees.

In the agreement signed May 15 by First Selectman Herbert Rosenthal and police union president Robert Koetsch, the starting pay for a new patrolman increases from the former $30,377 to $34,848 in the first year of the pact. In the third year of the agreement, the starting pay increases to $36,611.

Increasing the starting pay for patrolmen is a way to make the town more competitive with other area towns in attracting better qualified candidates for law enforcement jobs, according to Acting Police Chief Michael Kehoe.

The contract is retroactive to April 1, 2000. It expires June 30, 2002. The previous contract expired June 30, 1999. As part of the new agreement, the town and police agreed to extend its retroactivity back only to April 1, not back to July 1, 1999.

The pact covers 37 police positions, but not the chief’s position or the captain’s position, both of which have separately negotiated contracts with the town.

 Until now, police officers who retired from the police department after 25 years of service received no medical insurance coverage from the town as part of their pension plan. Under the terms of the new agreement, the town will assume 75 percent of medical insurance costs for retired officers on police pensions. Also, the police agreed to change their medical insurance plan at the town’s request, providing a $27,000 cost savings to the town.

The pact requires increased employee contributions toward the pension plan, increasing all employees to a 5 percent salary contribution to the pension fund.

“We’re now up to par with several area towns” concerning police benefit packages, said Robert Tvardzik, police union vice president.

“We tried to improve our [police] benefits while providing cost benefits to the town,” he said.

Under the terms of the contract, police will immediately get a 2 percent pay increase retroactive to April 1. They will receive another 2 percent pay hike on July 1; another 2 percent pay increase on January 1, 2001; and a 3 percent pay hike starting on July 1, 2001.

Although the police base pay rate increases 9 percent across the term of the contract, the pay raises represent only a 6.5 percent increase in town funding because three of the four pay hikes in the pact represent fractions of years, not entire years.

Under the terms of the contract, the current $1.52 million annual base payroll will increase to $1.85 million across the term of the agreement.

The contract includes pay increases for each of the five steps in the police officers’ current pay scale.

“There were numerous issues we needed to address… We made a lot of significant changes… working conditions, salary, and benefits,” said Mr Tvardzik. Changes included provisions on compensatory time, overtime, and days off, he said.

Police pensions will increase under the terms of the agreement, rising from 2 percent of a salary for each year worked to 2.25 percent of a salary for each year worked. The new pact eliminates “cost of living adjustments” in the pension plan.

The labor contract also requires annual job performance evaluations for all employees covered by the agreement.

The police promotion process has been clarified by contract language. A controversial police agility test has been eliminated.

“I think the contract was ultimately a good contract from both perspectives,” said First Selectman Herbert Rosenthal, adding that both the town and police gain from the agreement.

Mr Rosenthal said that although police will receive better pension benefits, they have agreed to end the cost of living adjustment in their pensions.   

Contract talks initially were contentious when negotiations began last spring, but after the police department’s leadership changed last July, the tenor of negotiations improved, the first selectman said. “The whole tone of negotiations changed,” Mr Rosenthal said.

Last July, the Police Commission placed former police chief James E. Lysaght, Jr, on administrative leave, putting police department management in the hands of Captain Michael Kehoe. The commission fired Mr Lysaght in March. Captain Kehoe is now acting police chief.

“It was a fair and equitable contract. Both parties worked hard to come to terms. Both sides accomplished their goals,” Mr Koetsch said of the new contract.

Acting Chief Kehoe said of the talks, “It was hard work, lots of meetings.” Town and police representatives met about 25 times to negotiate the pact, he said. Issues that required time to resolve included pension improvements, health care, medical coverage, and retirement pay, among others, he said.

The new contract provides increased minimum staffing levels for the first and second police patrol shifts, he said. Such increased staffing levels should improve police department operations, he said.