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Committee backs tentative 3‑year police contract with 4% annual raises; goes to village board
Summary
The committee voted to accept a tentative collective bargaining agreement with the Germantown Professional Police Association providing 4% raises in 2025–27; staff said the village can fund the 2025 increase within budget and recommended using savings from unfilled referendum positions for later years.
The Germantown General Government and Finance Committee voted to accept a tentative three‑year collective bargaining agreement with the Germantown Professional Police Association (Local 306) that would provide 4% pay increases in 2025, 2026 and 2027. Committee members also heard that the union membership voted earlier the same day to accept the tentative agreement.
Administrator Craig Lowe told trustees the tentative agreement was reached after a lengthy negotiation assisted by counsel from Von Briesen and would provide four percent raises each year. He said the increases would raise salary costs by about $138,000 in 2025, $143,000 in 2026 and $150,000 in 2027 and that the total incremental cost over the three years would be roughly $700,000 when added sequentially.
Lowe said the village can fund the 2025 increase within budgeted funds and recommended using savings from positions approved in a prior referendum but not yet filled to help cover later years’ costs. He noted the raises could create “compression” issues — narrowing pay differentials among ranks — and that additional adjustments could be necessary to maintain internal salary spacing.
A committee member explained how state collective bargaining arbitration works, noting that an arbitrator cannot consider the municipality’s ability to pay and instead compares the municipality’s last offer to labor market comparables. Trustees discussed whether a 3% general employee increase for 2025 (the village’s prior increase) made 4% for police reasonable; Lowe said the tentative agreement reflected market comparables and that the village is “competitive with the market.”
A motion to accept the tentative agreement passed in committee; the item was placed on the village board agenda the same night. Lowe and Chief Martin recommended committee approval and implementation steps for budgeting.
Votes at a glance
• Motion to accept tentative collective bargaining agreement with Germantown Professional Police Association Local 306 (three‑year agreement, 4% annual raises) — Passed (committee vote; recorded voice vote, no roll call tally reported).
