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Council approves amended five-year police tentative agreement after correcting rate typos
Summary
Meriden approved a five-year tentative agreement with its police union that adjusts starting steps for new officers and increases private-duty rates; the council later reconsidered and amended the resolution to correct typographical errors in the 2027–2028 rate figures before final approval.
City HR Director Kathy Zygmunt presented a five-year tentative agreement for the police department covering July 1, 2025 through July 1, 2029 that includes wage adjustments, Juneteenth as a holiday, changes to the canine program and private-duty-rate increases designed to attract private-duty work. "We removed 1 step, so the new officers coming in, we eliminated step b," an official explained during the discussion of recruitment strategies.
Police leadership said the step-elimination and rate structure are intended to make Meriden more competitive in recruitment; the chief described a roughly "19% decrease in number of applicants" compared with the prior year and said Meriden was previously among the third-lowest starting-rate agencies on PoliceApp. The chief argued the contract package and private-duty incentives will help the department recruit and increase revenue.
Council approved the police TA by voice vote, but City Manager Bridal Daniels flagged a typographical error in the adopted resolution. The council followed procedure: it moved to reconsider the prior vote, then moved to amend the resolution to correct the wage-rate typos for 07/01/2027 and 07/01/2028 (changing 2.25% to 3.25%). The amendment passed on the council floor and the resolution was then approved as amended.
Councilors and staff emphasized the city’s broader strategy of staggering contract lengths (three years for nurses, five years for police, four years for fire) to avoid negotiating multiple major contracts in the same budget year. Staff said no articles required arbitration for the police TA and described the overall negotiation as smooth.
The amended resolution will be implemented by HR and finance; staff said they will incorporate the corrected figures into payroll and contract documents following final ratification.
