La Marque police association proposes restructured pay steps; city says budget limits extra $35K–$42K

Negotiators for the La Marque Police Association and city officials continued talks over a one-year contract, focusing on a restructured pay-step plan, payout of comp time, a uniform allowance, and the timing of schedule changes.

John Kerr, lead negotiator for the Combined Law Enforcement Association and representing the La Marque Police Association, said the association had created a hybrid spreadsheet based on the city’s cost analysis and would present a counterproposal that restructures step progression to speed raises for early-career officers and give all bargaining-unit members pay increases. “We’re asking the city to add to their figure $42,000 so they could fund the pipeline that we … place in front of you,” Kerr said.

The association’s proposal would accelerate step increases at lower tenure levels (for example, adding a two-year step cadence instead of three years) and modestly reduce the top-end step schedule to fund broader increases across corporals, sergeants and lieutenants. Kerr said the…