Lebanon mayor presents four‑year police contract with substantial pay increases to address recruitment and retention

Mayor Sherry Alcopello told the council the city negotiated a four‑year contract with the Lebanon Police Bargaining Association covering 2026–29 and presented the pay structure as central to recruitment and retention. "So this is a 4 year contract, which is pretty standard for the city," she said.

Alcopello said the agreement raises the starting academy pay for new hires to $57,000 in 2026 and sets the first‑year patrol salary at $66,000. Subsequent steps shown in the city handout were $73,920 for year two, $81,249 for year three, $85,883 for year four and $89,319 for year five. She said sergeants would be paid approximately $104,241.01 and that officers in their sixth year and beyond would receive a 4% base increase for each contract year when eligible. "We bumped that up greatly so that we could retain them," Alcopello said, citing a roughly $20,000 gap with some neighboring departments for mid‑career officers.

The mayor framed the increases as a budgeted, targeted response to staffing pressures. She said salaries were benchmarked against neighboring townships and cities and that the city wants to remain competitive with both municipal and township employers. The mayor also said the city had already posted recruitment notices with the updated pay and expected a larger applicant pool than in prior short postings.

The contract also changes employee benefits: employee deductibles increase by $50 for single coverage and $100 for family coverage per year; employee premium contributions rise by $10 per pay period (biweekly); and prescription co‑payments increase (generic from $15 to $30; preferred from $55 to $60; non‑preferred from $70 to $80 for 30‑day fills, with similar increases for 90‑day fills). Alcopello said these cost shifts are part of the labor compromise.

The agreement permanently incorporates a 12‑hour shift schedule that had been a pilot, which the mayor said improved morale and recruiting by allowing more regular weekends off. It also permits the city to require up to three mandatory eight‑hour training sessions per officer per calendar year, which may be scheduled on off days. The chief explained the scheduling "Kelly time" structure for 12‑hour blocks and how compensatory time would be banked.

Council members and attendees asked procedural and operational questions — how hires move from academy pay to first‑year pay, whether the union membership ratified the agreement (the mayor said the membership vote already occurred and was "overwhelming"), and whether the increases put the city on parity with the region. The police chief and other supporters at the meeting stressed the contract’s importance to prevent further attrition.

Councilmember Cornell volunteered to "take" the resolution during the meeting. The council did not record a formal final vote on the resolution at this session; the mayor said the council will review and most likely adopt the contract at the next council meeting when full attendance is present.

Next step: council review and formal adoption at a future meeting; no final council vote was recorded in the transcript.