SAPD Officers Vote to Defer Salary Increases

SAN ANGELO, TX -  San Angelo LIVE! has been following the Meet & Confer Contract meetings between the San Angelo Police Department and the City, in which the issue of salary increases for the police officers of the SAPD has been discussed.

This morning, an amendment to the Meet & Confer Contract was ratified and signed into effect by Daniel Valenzuela, San Angelo’s City Manager, who had gained sole power to “execute and negotiate the Meet & Confer Contract” in the previous city council meeting (see here). The amendment defers the decision of salary increases until 2017, makes the mandatory fitness program voluntary for officers, and recommits the city council’s use of the unallocated  $322,000 in the budget to offsetting the insurance premium increases (details here).

San Angelo LIVE! reported on the previous Meet & Confer meeting, held on September 22 , in which the City offered a new agreement, allowing the contract to remain valid until April 1, 2017. In the agreement were the suggested three points mentioned above. Once both parties had agreed to the new proposed contractual agreement, the members of the Police Department set the contract to a vote. The voting took place on September 27 and September 28 from 7:00 a.m. – 7 p.m. The voting was done by secret ballot.

Of the 96 SAPD voters, 70 had voted in favor of the new contractual agreement, and 26 against it, putting the passing rate of the contract at 72.9 percent.

If the amendment had not been ratified, the whole Meet & Confer Contract would have gone null and void. Seargent Rick Tinsley with SAPD said that “both parties felt that it was in the best interest of the City and the law enforcement officers to keep the contract in place.”

Lisa Marley, San Angelo’s City Service Director, agreed and she is indeed “very pleased, and the management team is very pleased, [for] over the years, since 2007, [they] have worked really hard to keep the Meet & Confer process going.”

Tinsley emphasized that there are a lot of positive changes with the new amendment. For example, “[SAPD] gets the five part-time workers, […] cold case detectives, […] and the third police chief.” The third police chief is beneficial to the SAPD because of the work flow.

"If it’s good for the department, it’s good for the city,” Sgt. Tinsley said.

However, Tinsley was surprised and somewhat disappointed that “1/3 of the officers who [were] eligible to vote didn’t vote.” He pointed out that “this was their opportunity to express their voice, and if they choose not to do that, that’s their choice as well.”

Marley believes it is a very good thing that the SAPD has supported recommitting the unallocated $320,000.00 in the budget to offsetting higher insurance premium costs. These increasing insurance premiums would “be a double whammy” on employees after not getting pay increases. The City currently has about 1290 employees and retirees who are insured by the City’s health insurance.

Both parties will continue to watch and prepare for next year’s Meet & Confer meeting. Marley believes that the negotiations for next year’s contract will begin in late November. By that time, they will “also have an update from the budget division to tell [the city team members] where [the city is] with the sales tax revenues, and [answer if the city team members are] going to be able to meet [the requirements of the contract] come April 1.”

Tinsley added that the SAPD will “continue to monitor tax figures, [the monetary funds where] our raises come from, and stay in contact with the City to make sure that the raise is looked at on April 1, [2017]. We have deferred the raise until April 1, and, at that point, if the money is not available, then we would discuss what we would do at that point.”

Sgt. Tinsley clearly stated, “If the money is available, we would certainly hope that the City would give us that raise at that point.”