Hoffman Estates, police sergeants negotiate 3-year contract without attorneys present

When it comes to negotiating contracts, Hoffman Estates officials and the police unions seem to be on the same page.

Village board members Tuesday approved a three-year agreement with the police sergeants union, a deal that union President Rick Ouimette described as at least the third in a row in which neither side was represented by attorneys during the negotiation process.

Last year, the union for the village's rank-and-file police officers successfully tried the same approach.

Ouimette said the new contract, which runs through the end of 2025, for the village's 12 sergeants was negotiated over the course of three meetings during the fall.

He said that the process might have been even quicker had the meetings been scheduled closer together.

"We have a good relationship with the village," Ouimette said. "I've been involved with this for three times."

Hoffman Estates Deputy Village Manager Dan O'Malley, who represents the village in its contract negotiations, said he has been around a long time himself and is a known commodity to the unions' leadership.

The village board endorsed his efforts with a unanimous vote Tuesday.

"I want to thank Deputy Manager O'Malley for all his hard work on this, and the rest of the management team," Mayor Bill McLeod said.

Under the new contract, police sergeants will receive wage increases of 3% in 2023, 2.5% in 2024 and 2.25% in 2025.

Their contributions to their health insurance will be 15% during the first two years and 16% in the third. Their deductible is $450 in 2023 and goes up by $50 in each of the following years.

Last year's approval of a three-year contract for the department's approximately 75 patrol officers included salary raises of 2.75% in 2022, 2.5% in 2023 and 2.25% in 2024.

Among the department's sworn officers, the ranks above sergeant are not unionized.