San Angelo Police and City of San Angelo in Temporary Deadlock Over Raises

SAN ANGELO, TX – On August 25, 2016, City of San Angelo officials and employees, including representatives from the San Angelo Police Department, met for the first 2016 Meet & Confer.

At that time, SAPD, and all other City employees, learned that raises would not be forthcoming because of current budget shortfalls.

SAPD, however, is the only City department under contract, and employees were told they would get raises in October of 2016, as they did in 2015, per the previous Meet & Confer agreement.

Lisa Marley, director of Human Resources and Civil Service for COSA, said, because of the budget shortfall, City Team members of Meet & Confer feel the focus of the allocated funds for pay increases of $323,000 should go to insurance premiums.

Given the issues facing the San Angelo Police Department, especially with the current crime rate, eight SACOP members were not in agreement with this decision and attempted to come up with a resolution for today’s second Meet & Confer Meeting held at City Hall, 72 W. College. SACOP members introduced a plan that would eliminate programs that they feel don’t financially benefit SAPD, and by doing so, the funds for those programs could go to officer raises.

SACOP’s proposal, however, was denied, leaving both the City and SAPD in a temporary deadlock until Tuesday’s City Council meeting, where both sides can present their arguments for and against the proposed resolution.

The Primary Issue of Pay Raises

In the previous Meet & Confer Meeting, Marley explained how there were inadequate funds to fulfill the previously discussed pay raises for SAPD.  Pay raises are reliant on sales tax and hotel tax performance, but the current figures did not meet expectations. This revenue fell short by $2 million, leaving only an excess of about $323,000.

In previous budget sessions with City Council, Marley was passionate about closing the income gap between the highest paid city employees and the lowest paid, and getting the City at a 95 percent competitive living wage based on 13 comparable cities in Texas the size of San Angelo. Unfortunately, the current budget shortfall has put that goal on hold.

On the other side of the coin, SACOP members fee pay raises should have been built into the budget, rather than part of sales tax revenue excess. Also, they feel (despite a clause that says the city does not have to honor a contract if it cannot pay its debts) the decision not to honor the raises for officers is a “breach in contract.”

The Amended Meet & Confer Agreement

At today’s meeting, SACOP members brought in an amended proposal that was reviewed and ratified by its members.

One of the eight members told Marley and the other five City team members that SAPD wanted to remove the assessment center mandated by the City previously for sergeant and lieutenant promotions.

“It’s a waste of time,” said one SACOP member. “We’ve done it a total of eight times, and it does nothing. It’s a waste of money.”

The cost for this assessment center is approximately $10,000, and is currently allocated in the SAPD budget.

SACOP members also said they would eliminate the Physical Fitness Program required for officers. Members said officers work out anyway, and that should be voluntary and at the discretion of the individual.

In another section of the amendment, SACOP members proposed replacing the methodology described in the Base Agreement in determining the rate of increase to the steps of each grade, and “shall be in lieu of bringing officers’ pay to 95 percent of the midpoint average total of the 13 selected comparable cities” described in the agreement.

That raise would be approximately 3 percent for higher ranking officers, and about 7 percent for the others.

With this amendment, SAPD officers would be able to use current SAPD allocated funds, but move it around to meet the raises of the officers.

The City’s Decision

For almost an hour, the City debated the amendment provided by SACOP. Marley told the SACOP members that the City will not support the amendment, and they feel the City Council won’t support it either.

Marley said she has three goals outlined by the Council:

• Come to a solution accepted by SACOP
• Address health insurance concerns
• Provide salary increases for general employees

Marley stated pay increases should be delayed until April 2017 so as to benefit all employee raises.

However, she did tell SACOP members that there will be two items on Tuesday’s City Council meeting agenda, and SACOP will have an opportunity to present their case at that time; however, they cannot speak to council members beforehand. Marley also assured SACOP she and the other City team members will present their side.

“We will bring the HR side to council and what the options are,” said Marley. “We’ll recommend the money to go to insurance premiums.”

Overall, something has to be decided by Sept. 30.

SACOP Response to Denial

After Marley and the other team members explained their denial, Sgt. Doug Thomas with SAPD said, “I’m disappointed. I don’t understand.”

He added that SACOP tried to work the numbers for something the City would approve.

After the meeting adjourned, Sgt. Rick Tinsley spoke out on behalf of SAPD.

“We’re obviously disappointed,” he said.

He added that they were presented a problem at the last meeting, so they did their part to come up with an amendment. Tinsley said many officers are not in this job for the money, but with what they face with daily, they did expect a little more from City leaders.

“Some of them (officers) are going to be pretty angry,” said Tinsley.

Tinsley also said SAPD members met all their obligations of the Meet & Confer contract. SAPD still suffers a competitive salary edge to the 13 comparable cities, and Tinsley said, “If we stay where we are, we’ll fall further behind.”

Tinsley said there are some officers who will stay no matter what, but there are other officers who simply want to be that, and they will do so in another city if there are better opportunities.

In a LIVE! interview last week, Chief Frank Carter said there were still 12 – 13 vacancies left to fill, even after the recent graduation of officers, and a lack of raises may negatively affect that.

“As a supervisor, I’m going to have some work to do,” Tinsley said about talking to employees, and about helping prepare SAPD’s case for Tuesday’s City Council meeting.

“I was hoping for more support,” said Tinsley. He added that although SACOP members and SAPD officials cannot talk to council members, hopefully citizens of San Angelo will come forward and do so since they have always supported SAPD.

A Difficult Decision

In her final comments, Marley said City members were surprised by the proposal because SAPD members were told at the last meeting what to do, and this proposal is contrary to what City Council wants.

“The two things that were part of their amendment were management related items from the contract,” Marley said.

She said at this time, the contract is whole, and they’re trying to resolve the issue of funding for salary. That doesn’t mean they can’t go into the contract and review items, but these items “weren’t really theirs to give up,” said Marley.

“This wasn’t the appropriate time to bring those forward,” Marley added.

She said she understands SACOP’s frustration, but the goal is to get to a salary resolution for all employees.

“All 900 of our employees were requesting pay raises for this year,” Marley noted. “None of the other ones are going to get a raise.”

She said everyone is disappointed they’re not getting a raise.

“Our hope was to have the contract be delayed until next April to give pay raises,” Marley said. This would allow the City to work out better funding options.

Offsetting the insurance premiums with the current funds will help affect a greater group of people, Marley said.

She added that an April deadline would work, and City members will need approval from council. 

Marley stated she hopes the budget shortfall is a temporary issue, but the City Council is committed to getting all city employees within 95 percent level salary range. Currently, city employees sit at 88 to 91 percent, while SAPD is at 91.75 percent.

“We do have a long way to go for all employment levels,” said Marley.

Both Sgt. Tinsley and Marley said they plan on presenting their side of the argument to the best of their ability at Tuesday’s City Council meeting held at the McNease Convention Center.