Lockport NY

LUSJ reporting that the comon council has approved the new police contract.

some highlights:

According to Tucker, gains for the city include:

• Union agreement to a lowered starting wage for newly hired police officers, as well as a longer period until their first raises. The starting wage, currently $42,600, will decrease to $39,900; and two new “steps” will be added in before the officer reaches the officers’ top pay step, currently $54,000. Ultimately, it’s projected, the city will save about $35,000 per hire over the length of his or her 20-year career.

• The union’s blessing of a city move to switch health-insured police retirees into lower-cost plans.

Citywide, the expected savings from assigning 152 currently covered retirees to comparable plans is about $600,000 per year.

“The big things for us are health care and the new (police pay) steps. They’re saving the city money,” Tucker said.

In return, union members will see some increased benefits including:

• Annual pay raises — 4 percent retroactively for 2009 and 3.5 percent in 2010 through 2012. The later raises will be granted at the rate of 2 percent every six months, which Tucker said produces some modest savings, compared with granting 3.5 percent at the beginning of every year.

• City agreement to pay some police retirees’ Medicare Part B expenses for the first time. When Americans turn 65 years old, they’re automatically enrolled in Medicare Part A. Part B is optional coverage, the $100 or so per month cost of which is deducted from retirees’ Social Security checks. The city will reimburse retired police officers that cost, as it already does for retired firefighters. The deal is good for currently employed officers only; the city will not pay Part B costs of police employees hired after Jan. 1, 2010. The long-term cost to the city wasn’t projected. “This won’t have an impact on the city for 20 years, for some (officers),” Tucker said.

• An increase in members’ clothing allowance, to $925 per year from the current $750. The additional cost to the city is $8,750 per year.

• A $50 per year increase in members’ annual longevity payments. These are bonuses paid to all city employees based on the number of years they’ve worked for the city. Longevity payments to 50 police union members will be: for five to nine years of employment, $750 in 2010, $800 in 2011 and $850 in 2012; 10 to 14 years employment, $800 in 2010 to $900 in 2012; 15 to 19 years of employment, $1,000 to $1,100; 20 to 24 years of employment, $1,100 to $1,200; and 25-plus years of employment, $1,200 to $1,300. The additional cost to the city is $7,500 per year.

• Permission for new hires to live in the town as well as the city of Lockport. The expired police contract required all new hires to establish residency in the city only.

Tucker said he considers the expanded residency allowance a fair trade with the union. State law says municipalities can’t impose a residency requirement on police officers or firefighters, so the Hickory Club contract is unusual in that it supports some.

Is that true? When I went through the process in the 90's I had to be a resident of the town I lived in at the time. Does it just apply to cities? Could find anything definitive in a quick internet search.