Algonquin cops get 4-year deal, 2 percent raises

Algonquin officials and the union representing its 36 police officers have signed a four-year contract, one that gives its members a 2 percent raise every year.

The agreement also provides annual “step” increases for certain officers that range from 5.5 to 19 percent. Those increases apply to the 10 officers who have been on the force less than eight years. Under another provision, officers hired after the contract was settled are required to pay more for their health insurance premiums — Algonquin has not hired a new officer since 2008, officials said.

Talks lasted between six and nine months and both parties said there were no major issues during the negotiations.

“We're happy with it,” Misty Marinier, president of Metropolitan Alliance of Police Chapter 78, said of the contract. “There's not one thing in particular that's better than another.”

The raises are retroactive to May 1; the contract expires April 30, 2017 and was ratified late last month.

The police officers would receive their 2 percent raises every May 1.

The deal means a new officer makes a starting salary of $51,229. It would be bumped up to $52,254 next May. The step increase would kick in on the officer's service anniversary, bringing his or her salary to $55,153.

In May 2015, the same officer would be paid $56,256. Another step increase that year would bring the salary up to $59,572.

The final raise of the contract would come May 1, 2016, and at that point, the same officer would make $60,764. The final step increase would take the salary to $64.175, a 5.6 percent increase.

An officer who has been on the force for five years currently makes $67,471. In the final year of the contract, 2017, a step increase would cause the officer's $80,032 salary to jump 19 percent to $95,250.

The remaining 26 officers who have more seniority will receive the 2 percent raises, but not the step increase, as they have already topped out of the system, said Todd Walker, the village's human resources director. By the end of the contract, all of the current officers will have topped out, he said.

Meanwhile, as part of a cost savings measure, new officers will have to pay 15 percent more for their insurance premiums, Walker said. The village previously paid the entire cost, he added.