Hoffman Estates reaches deal with cops, avoids arbitration

After a yearlong negotiation, Hoffman Estates and its police union have settled on a new contract taking the two parties through 2012.

The deal gives officers 4 percent annual raises for five years, as well as more money for uniforms. The Metropolitan Alliance of Police Hoffman Estates Chapter 96 and the village board have already signed off on the deal, said Deputy Village Manager Dan O'Malley.

Talks were slow, having started in October 2007. O'Malley said a December date with an arbitrator had been scheduled but in the end wasn't needed.

O'Malley added that the agreement is longer than the three-year pacts the village typically negotiates.

"We walked away from the settlement both happy with the deal," O'Malley said. "We'll ride it out for five years."

The contract covers 80 patrol officers, excluding administrative positions. The department staffs 102 officers total; sergeants are covered by a separate union.

Florene Williams, the MAP local chapter president, said in a prepared statement: "We are very pleased to have reached an amicable settlement with the village again."

She did not return phone calls for further comment.

Officers have been operating since January under the terms of their previous contract, which expired at the end 2007. That contract provided 3.5 percent increases in 2006 and 2007 and a 3.75 percent in 2005. Officers will receive back pay for ten months reflecting the terms of the new contract.

The previous deal was reached in August 2005, when the base salary for a rookie officer was $46,646. Four years later, the starting rookie salary will jump to $56,091.

Also, officers will again receive service bonuses. Starting in 2009, they'll get a $675 bonus when they reach 15 years, $925 for 20 years and $1,175 for 25 years. Officers will also be required to pay 10 percent of the village's costs for their health insurance.

O'Malley said the salary offer was based on what other communities pay officers, as well as the Chicago area's economy.

Last month, the police department last month cut three vacant patrol officer positions, under direction from the village to trim the budget.

The force is to move into its new headquarters in August 2010.