Council approves public-safety collective bargaining deal, with three items to clarify

City Manager Albert Tripp presented a proposed collective bargaining agreement between the City of Airway Heights and the Airway Heights Public Safety Guild covering the 2024–2027 period and asked the council to approve the terms subject to three clarifications. "We're gonna ask for counsel's authorization and discretion to move forward with the agreement tonight subject to further clarification on 3 particular items," Tripp said.

Tripp summarized the agreement's main elements: multi-year wage increases across the term, changes to the city's medical, dental and vision contributions, longevity incentive adjustments, and updated language to reflect how uniform allowances should be treated for tax purposes. He identified three items staff must finalize with the guild before finalizing contract text: the 2024 allocation of a stated $500 benefit contribution, retroactive pay for holidays worked in 2024, and an updated uniform-allowance taxable amount (staff said the taxable figure should be $1,825 rather than the $1,500 shown in the draft). Councilmember Beinecker moved to approve the agreement subject to those clarifications; the motion passed unanimously, 6-0.

The council directed staff to continue negotiating the three technical items with the guild and return finalized contract language. The contract will be implemented after the technical clarifications are documented and any required administrative steps are completed.