South Elgin police get new contract, raises

After 17 months of policing the streets of South Elgin without a contract, officers have finally inked a deal with the village.

The three-year agreement, finalized Wednesday night, includes raises that extend all the way back to May 1, 2006, the previous contract's expiration date, said Village Manager Larry Jones, who was involved in negotiations on the village's side.

In other words, the 22 officers represented by the Metropolitan Alliance of Police, are entitled to retroactive pay for days they worked between May 1, 2006, and April 30, 2007, Jones said.

The exact dollar amount has not been determined and won't be known until mid-November, he added.

Meanwhile, as part of the contract, officers will receive a 3.5-percent raise during the contract's first and second years -- South Elgin is now in the second year of the contract that expires in 2009.

A 3.75-percent pay increase kicks in during the contract's third year, and here's what the agreement means for the police officer making a starting salary of $20.95 an hour.

During the contract's first year, that same officer will be making $21.68 an hour.

That salary jumps to $22.44 an hour the second year and to $23.28 an hour the third year.

While officers should notice the bump in their next paycheck, they won't start collecting retroactive money, which includes the 3.5-percent raise, until Nov. 16, Jones said.

Talks had not begun on this deal until June, more than a year after the initial agreement ran out, Jones said.

"We began negotiating with them as soon as they indicated they were ready to do so," Jones said.

Mike Palazzo, the union's president, and Richard Reimer, the union's attorney, could not be reached for comment Thursday.

Still, other terms remained unchanged from the previous contract, except one minor detail, Jones said.

There now is language advising officers to give supervisors advanced notice before they take time off, Jones said.