Hermiston council approves three-year police contract adding sergeants to bargaining unit

Hermiston — The Hermiston City Council voted unanimously July 28 to ratify a three-year collective bargaining agreement with the Hermiston Police Association covering fiscal years 2026–2028. City Manager Smith, speaking for the city, summarized changes after bargaining concluded the prior week, saying the agreement adds sergeants to the bargaining unit — a change permitted by recent state law — and modifies pay and benefits across the department. The contract contains cost-of-living increases and step adjustments meant to bring patrol officers and records staff closer to regional market pay. For officers and records personnel the schedule includes 3 percent, 3 percent and 2 percent increases across the three years; sergeants will receive 3 percent, 3 percent and 3 percent increases but without the additional step movements for officers. The city will contribute 1 percent to a deferred-compensation account for employees; participation by officers is optional. The agreement also formalizes an existing paid-time-off structure that combined holiday and vacation accruals, clarifies pay for callbacks and remote court appearances (including a standard three-hour callback for remote court), and establishes longevity pay at 2 percent after 10 years, 3 percent after 15 years and 4 percent after 20 years of service with the department. Language was added to treat incidental food and beverages provided at work as de minimis compensation following a recent Government Ethics Commission ruling. Councilors asked how the change could affect wage compression and whether the retirement contribution was in addition to PERS. Smith said the bargaining team discussed potential compression and planned to revisit it if needed at the end of the contract; he confirmed the 1 percent deferred-comp contribution is separate from PERS and that the new structure may reduce some long-term city costs compared with a matching approach. The council made the approval by motion. Councilor Litton moved to approve the agreement and was seconded by Councilor Meyer; the motion carried unanimously. The contract brings sergeants under collective bargaining for the first time in Hermiston after a statutory change enabled their inclusion. The city and the association agreed to tentative language at the bargaining table and will finalize a cleaned-up document for signing and administrative use. City Manager Smith said attorneys and the city will add the incidental-food language into the employee handbook later this year. The city clerk’s office will file the signed agreement and incorporate its budgetary impacts into future financial planning.