TITLE
Recommendation to adopt Amendment to the Memorandum of Understanding with the Long Beach Police Officers Association; adopt Amended Resolution approving the Memorandum of Understanding with the Long Beach Police Officers Association; and allow those matters that affect compensation to be implemented on the effective dates set forth in the Amended Memorandum of Understanding. (Citywide)
DISCUSSION
City management representatives and representatives of the Long Beach Police Officers Association (LBPOA) have held meet and confer sessions over the last couple of months regarding wages and incentives to address Police Officer retention concerns.
Those meetings have resulted in an agreement that provides an amendment to the Memorandum of Understanding. The agreement covers additional compensation for all bargaining unit members, as well as a longevity incentive for those employees with 10.
or more years of service, from October 1, 2006 through September 30, 2009. The provisions of the agreement are summarized in Attachment A. The amended agreement has been ratified by the members of the LBPOA and signed by the City Manager and other appropriate management representatives.
This matter was reviewed by Deputy City Attorney, Christina Checel, and Budget Management Officer, David Wodynski, on November 14, 2006.
TIMING CONSIDERATIONS
City Council action is requested on November 21, 2006, to ensure implementation of the amended MOU provisions as soon as possible.
FISCAL IMPACT
On August 16, 2005, the City Council approved an MOU with the Police Officers Association which covered wages, benefits and other terms and conditions of employment from October 1, 2005 through September 30, 2009. The MOU provides an aggregate 21 percent increase in base compensation, and then a guaranteed adjustment to the median pay rate of Long Beach Police Department's (LBPD) ten comparable agencies, estimated at the time to be another approximate 6 percent. The projected cost of the original MOU, with estimated median adjustment on September 30, 2009, will build to a structural annual impact of $23.8 million in all funds, and approximately $22.6 million in the General Fund by FY10.
This requested MOU amendment provides an additional 5 percent increase in base compensation to all sworn police officers, increasing the aggregate compensation increase to 26 percent over the 4 year span of the agreement. Note that this proposed across-the-board raise of 2 percent and 3 percent in April 2008 and 2009, respectively, are assumed to merely accelerate the pay rate toward the already agreed-upon adjustment to the median of LBPD's ten comparable agencies, and thus the ongoing annual costs associated with this increase were already anticipated in the original MOU.
This requested amendment also provides an additional 5 percent increase in FY 07, retroactive to October 1, 2006, for police offi~ers with 10 years of service or more, and another 5 percent increase in FY 08 for police officers with 15 years of service or more.
The new net cost to fund these longevity incentives in FY 07 is approximately $2.5 million in all funds, with approximately $2.35 million in the General Fund. The total annual cost of this requested compensation increase in FY07 and FY08, once completely implemented, is estimated to be approximately $4.6 million in all funds, with approximately $4.4 million in the General Fund, bringing the total annual impact by FY10 of the POA MOU to approximately $28.4 million in all funds and $27 million in the General Fund. Included in these estimates are costs resulting from the wage increases related to pension contributions and overtime expenditures (assuming no changes in current usage).
As the costs for the first year of this requested amendment were not included in the FY 07 Adopted Budget, an appropriation increase for FY 07 will be included as part of the upcoming quarterly budget adjustment request. Because this action results in adding structural expense to the budget, in order to maintain a structural balance the City must reallocate a like amount of its ongoing commitment to its infrastructure budget to be funded by one-time resources. In the event that one-time funds do not materialize, the infrastructure program would have to be deferred. It is expected that growth in net revenue during the next three fiscal years will support this structural increase.
SUGGESTED ACTION
Approve recommendation.
BODY
A RESOLUTION OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF LONG BEACH APPROVING AN AMENDMENT TO THE CURRENT MEMORANDUM OF UNDERSTANDING WITH THE LONG BEACH POLICE OFFICERS' ASSOCIATION, AUTHORIZING AND DIRECTING THE CITY MANAGER TO EXECUTE SUCH AMENDMENT AND DIRECTING CERTAIN IMPLEMENTING AND RELATED ACTIONS
Respectfully Submitted,
KEVIN BOYLAN
DIRECTOR OF HUMAN RESOURCES