Modesto council to consider pay raises for police chief, other officials

Modesto’s police sergeants, lieutenants, captains and its police chief are set to receive pay increases of more than 10 percent over slightly more than 2 1/2 years in proposals the City Council is expected to approve Tuesday.

But all of them will pick up more of the cost of their pensions, paying an additional 3 percent of their salaries starting in June. That will bring their total contribution to 12 percent of their pay.

Deputy City Manager Joe Lopez said the pay increases and incentives in the proposals will cost the city’s general fund $1 million at full implementation in Modesto’s 2019-20 fiscal year.

The $118.7 million fund primarily pays for public safety and already is under stress, but Lopez has said city officials are aware of those challenges and are working to meet them.

Modesto Police Management Association President Robert Reyna said his labor group balanced the city’s needs against providing MPMA members with competitive pay. The MPMA represents the department’s approximately three dozen sergeants and lieutenants.

Reyna said the MPMA appreciates that Modesto is using incentive pay.

“They really want to give incentives to people who do more,” he said. “… A lot of them are doing the job of two people. We need to make sure we keep the people we’ve invested so much in.”

The department’s four captains and police Chief Galen Carroll are not represented by a labor group but will receive similar increases. Carroll will see his pay increase by as much as 14.5 percent over the more than 2 1/2 years. He now earns $182,992.

The captains will see their pay increase 12 percent to 14 percent. They now earn $110,718 to $134,572.

The agreement the council will consider with the MPMA is in line with what the council approved in August with the Modesto Police Officers Association, which represents the city’s officers and detectives.

The proposed MPMA agreement is from Jan. 1 to Sept. 3, 2019. According to a city report, it includes:

▪ Salary increases of 2 percent this month, 2.5 percent in June, 3 percent in June 2018, and a 2 percent to 4 percent increase based on the level of inflation in August 2019. Sergeants now earn $79,102 to $96,158 and lieutenants earn $94,355 to $114,683. These amounts do not include overtime and incentive pay.

▪ More incentive pay. For example, sergeants and lieutenants who hold a supervisory certificate from California’s Commission on Peace Officer Standards and Training will see the incentive pay for that increase from 8 percent to 10 percent. Sergeants and lieutenants also can receive 1 percent or 2 percent in incentive pay if they have served long enough.

▪ In addition to the pay raises, the salary range for lieutenants will increase 2.5 percent this month to make up for not being eligible for all of the incentive pay.

Carroll will receive the same pay raises, except for the 2.5 percent this month. But he will see his incentive pay for having an executive certificate from POST increase from 5 percent to 10 percent this month.

In all, his pay will increase 12.5 to 14.5 percent. The increase varies because the last pay raise is based on the inflation rate.

The last MPMA agreement was for one year and included a pay increase of 2 percent, one-time payments totaling $2,500 and additional specialty pay. The captains saw their pay increase 4.5 percent.

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

This story was originally published January 9, 2017 at 4:57 PM with the headline "Modesto council to consider pay raises for police chief, other officials."