Modesto City Council considers raises for police

MODESTO -- Modesto police officers and detectives will get 3 percent raises and other pay incentives several months ahead of schedule in exchange for paying more toward their pensions under a contract extension the City Council will consider tonight.

The proposal would save the city $170,000 in the remaining months of the current fiscal year, which ends June 30, and $676,000 over the whole of the next fiscal year, Modesto Human Resources Director Joe Lopez said.

The proposal helps the city close the roughly $3.8 million shortfall it had when it adopted its $102 million general fund budget for the 2012-13 fiscal year several months ago.

The proposal has been approved by the Modesto Police Officers Association, and city officials are recommending the council approve it. The deal's highlights include:

• Extending the agreement between the MPOA and the city for an additional fiscal year, to June 30, 2014.

• As of Dec. 18, MPOA members will pay 6.5 percent of the 9 percent of the employee's contribution to their pensions. MPOA members now pay 1.5 percent of their pay toward their pensions. This change applies to officers hired before Sept. 11. Officers hired after that date are covered under another pension plan and are paying the full 9 percent.

• MPOA members will get 3 percent raises March 12 instead of July 2. These raises originally were scheduled for February 2011, but MPOA members agreed to postpone them.

• MPOA members who are eligible will receive 5 percent step increases in March instead of July. Officers are eligible for annual step increases during their first five years of service, provided they receive satisfactory performance reviews.

• The city will redirect increases to officers' health care coverage to education-and-training-related incentive pay.

• The city and MPOA agree to hold discussions regarding the sick leave conversion program, which lets retiring officers convert accumulated sick hours into payments for retiree health care.

"I think this contract extension shows we are continuing to work with the city to find solutions," MPOA President Tony Arguellas said Monday.

He said the MPOA represents the Police Department's 190 officers and detectives. Arguellas said the typical Modesto police officer earns about $66,500 annually. That does not include overtime and incentive pay.

The City Council meets at 5:30 p.m. in the basement chamber of Tenth Street Place, 1010 10th St.

Bee staff writer Kevin Valine can be reached at kvaline@modbee.com or (209) 578-2316.

The Modesto City Council tonight will:

• Be formally introduced to new Police Chief Galen Carroll, who starts Jan. 8. Carroll, 42, is a commander with the Long Beach Police Department. Modesto announced his appointment Friday.

• Consider approving three loans totaling more than $430,000 to the Housing Authority of the County of Stanislaus for the purchase and rehabilitation of three homes. Funding would come from the federal Neighborhood Stabilization Program.

• Consider awarding a $384,000 contract with Harris Builders of Hilmar for work at the Tuolumne River Regional Park Gateway. The total cost of the project is $496,578 and includes building a minor trail system, which will provide access to the riparian habitat near the river.

• Consider approving several changes to the federal Neighborhood Stabilization Programs 1 and 2 as the city nears completion of them. The proposed changes include allocating $100,000 to $250,000 of NSP funding for preconstruction work for Tower Park, a senior affordable-housing project, and using more NSP funding toward the construction of the airport neighborhood community center.

The council meets at 5:30 p.m. in the basement chamber of Tenth Street Place, 1010 10th St.