Lombard trustees approve contract for police officers

Lombard police officers have a new contract that provides pay raises totaling 15.75 percent over the next four years.

Village trustees this week approved the four-year pact with the union representing 57 patrol officers and detectives. The union members ratified the agreement last month.

As part of the new police contract, which is retroactive to June 1, the officers will receive a 4 percent raise in the first year.

The officers then will get a 3.75 percent raise in each of the second and third years of the pact and another 4.25 percent starting June 1, 2010.

"We're thrilled to have it," Police Chief Ray Byrne said. "It was very amicable negotiations. We have a good working document so we didn't need to make a lot of changes."

Negotiations boiled down to wage increases and minor changes involving uniform allowances and extra duty pay, officials said.

The officers were working under the terms of the prior contract, which wasn't problematic because retroactivity is often part of contract negotiations nowadays, Byrne said.

"It's not always a fast process," he said.

The police union president couldn't be reached for comment Friday.

As part of the contract, the starting salary for a rookie will increase to $51,810 in the first year, to $53,753 in the second and $55,769 and $58,139 in the final two years.

The top pay for a seasoned officer is $73,001, and it will increase to $75,739 in June.

Officers will get essentially a "cost of living" increase in their clothing allowance and extra duty pay during select years of the contract, Byrne said.