Carol Stream approves contract with raises for police

Carol Stream police officers will receive wage adjustments totaling 8 percent and a one-time $2,500 bonus for opting out of a PPO health care plan in a contract with the Fraternal Order of Police ratified Monday night by the village board.

The agreement is retroactive to May 1, 2012, with wage increases of 2 percent in the first year, 2.25 the second year and 3.75 percent on May 1, 2014, the third year.

As a result of the contract, a new police officer will be paid $59,614.27 effective May 1, 2014. According to this schedule, officers will be paid $85,986.87 after six years of service.

The previous contract had expired on April 30, 2012, with staff and the union negotiating a successor contract during the subsequent months. The FOP membership formally ratified the contract on Oct. 14.

Assistant Village Manager Bob Mellor said that under the new contract, the PPO plan is going away. Mellor said that the village is doing so because starting in 2018 the PPO would be considered a “Cadillac plan” in the Affordable Care Act, and would thus be taxed at 40 percent over lesser plans.

“It benefits the village to not have that plan,” Mellor said. “Since the Cadillac tax doesn't go in effect until 2018, we wanted to get some language in there that recognized the fact that we're going to change that plan or we'll get hit with the tax.”

Employees waiving their right to the PPO will receive the one-time, lump-sum $2,500 bonus not added to base pay.

Deductibles and co-pays will go up on the HMO plan, with physician co-pays increased from $10 to $25 and emergency room co-pays from $50 to $100.

Mellor said the pact also calls for changes in the evaluation, taking out language involving goals that do not apply to police.

Also, there is a tweak in the language regarding sick leave incentive. Previously, officers not using any sick days received a day off. The new contract calls for them to receive $250.

The contract runs through April 30, 2015.