The Reedsburg Common Council on Aug. 11, 2025, approved a tentative collective bargaining agreement between the City of Reedsburg and the Reedsburg Police Officers Association for the 2026–2028 period. The personnel committee presented the agreement to council after several months of negotiations and a recent ratification vote by the union.

The agreement contains several clarifications and substantive changes: holiday-pay rules were clarified so officers who work on a holiday continue to receive holiday pay for that work, and officers will be able to elect to take holiday pay as paid time off rather than being required to use it at the time. The contract clarifies field‑training pay and gives the police chief more flexibility to place probationary officers on shifts that best support their training rather than immediately placing them in the seniority-based shift pool. The residency requirement was changed from a fixed 20 miles to a time standard of 45 minutes.

The agreement also authorizes "power shifts," allowing the department to adjust 12-hour shift windows (for example, moving a 5 p.m.–5 a.m. shift to 1 p.m.–1 a.m.) to better cover busier hours.

The most significant compensation change removes the low entry-level step in the previous five‑step pay table so new officers will start at the former step 2 (renumbered as step 1). Personnel committee members said the change is intended to improve recruitment and retention of early-career officers. The three-year wage package totals approximately 6% in year one, 5% in year two and 4% in year three; those increases are structured to be split mid‑year (for example, roughly 3% then 3% in the first year). The contract also folded older memoranda of understanding into the main contract and increased the equipment allowance from $600 to $800.

Personnel committee representatives said the tentative agreement was ratified by the union the previous week. On the council floor, Dave moved to approve the collective bargaining agreement and Aaron seconded the motion; the body voted to approve the contract, with one abstention by Council member John. Staff said the pay-table changes will apply Jan. 1, when all employees will move to the newly adjusted steps.

Why it matters: the contract is intended to make Reedsburg more competitive with neighboring jurisdictions for new officers, clarify scheduling and training procedures and give the department tools to align staffing with workload. The council did not direct additional changes at the meeting.