Island Lake police sergeants to get pay raises under new 3-year contract
Island Lake's police sergeants will receive pay raises under a three-year labor agreement approved Thursday night.
The pact with the Fraternal Order of Police Labor Council calls for 2.75 percent annual raises in each of the next three fiscal years, starting May 1.
The sergeants also will get additional pay raises after their 15th anniversary, 20th anniversary and 25th anniversary with the village, the contract states.
Those bonus raises, which are in the current contract, too, are designed to reward longevity within the department, Chief Dan Palmer said. They're "somewhat common" for police labor agreements, Palmer said.
Mayor Charles Amrich called the contract "a good deal." He said the sergeants are doing "a great job" under Palmer, who was hired as chief in late February after about five months as interim chief.
Palmer succeeded Anthony Sciarrone, who was fired in October after an investigation into how he ran the department. A sergeant and a part-time officer were fired after that investigation, too.
Island Lake now has three police sergeants: Nicholas Deuter, Robert Blitek and James Gainer. Deuter was promoted to sergeant in 2011; Blitek and Gainer got their stripes last fall.
Under the new deal, the average salary for the three sergeants will increase to about $99,764, from about $97,094, Village Treasurer Ed McGinty said.
The starting salary for a police sergeant in Island Lake will increase to $98,119 starting next month, up from $95,493. It will increase to $100,817 in May 2020 and $103,590 in May 2021.
The labor pact was reached after about two months of negotiations, village officials said.
The department's 12 patrol officers are covered by a different labor agreement.