Approval of a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) by and between the City of Clearlake and the Clearlake Police Association has been granted. Following a brief discussion on Thursday, Oct. 12, the city council voted 3-0 to approve the memorandum for the term of three years, effective July 1, 2006 through June 30, 2009.
There are two outstanding terms remaining within the MOU, which the council is expected to hear for consideration in or around January 2007. The potential issues for consideration are the spilt between employee and the city regarding any potential increases in medical insurance and potential adoption of an IRC 414(h)(2) regarding the allocation of the employee”s share as a pretax deduction.
The approved MOU includes the following modifications:
Salary
* Initial adjustment of base salary for all represented employees into a pay plan entitled “Classification Pay Plan 2.5 percent” (average increase of 1.830 percent).
* Adjustment after implementation of Classification Pay Plan 2.5 percent increase of: effective July 1, 2006 — five percent; effective July 1, 2007 — five percent; effective July 1, 2008 — five percent.
* Modification to Article II, Section 2-4.3 establishes that “There shall be twenty-six (26) pay periods per year agreeing to a biweekly payroll system.”
Retirement
* The city agrees to explore potential changes to Article II, Section 2-3.2 Employee Contributions for future negotiations regarding IRC 414(h)(2) regarding the allocation of employee”s share as a pretax deduction.
Medical Contributions
* All are eighty (80) percent — twenty (20) percent split with the city responsible for 80 percent and the employees responsible for 20 percent with a cap of per employee of $1,050 paid by the city and $263 paid by the employee.
Shift Differential
* The addition of a new section under Salary Adjustments for shift differential pay for association/union represented employees as follows: swing shift — two to five percent; graveyard shift — five percent.
Life Insurance
* Increase in group life insurance benefit for association/union represented employees up to $20,000. (The city intends to make this increase a citywide benefit to all full time employees currently receiving this benefit.)
Education Reimbursement
* The addition of an Educational Tuition Reimbursement program for association/union represented employees for up to $500 per year for the cost of educational classes and books to encourage higher education degrees. (The city intends to make this program a citywide benefit to all full time employees and present the guidelines for use for discussion with the association/union.)
Uniform Allowance
* The following increases in uniform allowance were approved: Police Officer I — from $300 to $480 per year; Police Officer II — from $300 to $480 per year; Community Service — from $200 to $360 per year; Dispatchers — from $100 to $240 per year.
* Agreed to implement an ordinance to the City of Clearlake Municipal Code illustrating the city”s commitment to address cost of living adjustments on an annual basis in January of each calendar year according to the “Consumer Price Indexes Pacific Cities and U.S. City Average, All Urban Consumers (CPI-U). Any recommended adjustments are contingent on the availability of funding.
City Administrator Kathy Kivley informed the council that the MOU presented has been signed by the police officers” association/union. The council commended the diligence of city staff for working toward the agreement, which Vice Mayor Judy Thein said has been ongoing for the past two years.
“We hope that this will give our officers an incentive to stay here,” Thein said. “We will no longer be a training ground where our officers come to train and move on.”
Negotiations of the MOU included the utilization of a salary survey of nine surrounding law enforcement jurisdictions. The survey compared Clearlake Police Department salaries with those of Lake County Sheriff”s Department, Lakeport Police Department and seven other jurisdictions outside the immediate area including Calistoga, Cotati, Napa, Petaluma, Willits, Windsor and Woodland police departments. The survey shows 73.8 percent difference in top step salary compared to Napa Police Department, which is listed as the highest paying district while Clearlake is listed as the lowest. A 15.7 percent difference is shown in comparison to the Lakeport Police Department and an 11.9 percent difference is shown in comparison between the Clearlake Police Department and the Lake County Sheriff”s Department.
The average salary comparison represents a 40.6 percent difference with the top step salary of Clearlake police officers listed at $4,293.67 per month while the average top step salary of officers serving districts included in the survey is listed at $6,038.91.
Contact Denise Rockenstein at drockenstein@clearlakeobserver.com.
