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Philomath council ratifies police union contract amid budget concerns
Summary
Council approved Resolution 26-24 5–1 to ratify a collective bargaining agreement between the City of Philomath and the Philomath Police Personnel Association; staff said the contract includes cost-of-living adjustments, minor vacation-accrual changes, lateral-hire language and a 1% bachelor-degree premium.
The Philomath City Council on July 27 ratified a collective bargaining agreement with the Philomath Police Personnel Association by a 5–1 vote. Chelsea, the city staff representative, summarized the contract’s changes and noted the negotiation required extensive staff and legal time.
Chelsea said the agreement includes cost-of-living increases for the coming years, clarifying language around lateral hires and modest adjustments to vacation accruals; she also noted a degree premium (1% of base hourly rate) and a tuition-reimbursement program. “We are doing the best that we can do for our police officers here,” Chelsea said, adding that the city aimed to retain officers without matching compensation in larger neighboring jurisdictions.
Several councilors expressed support for officers and concern about long-term budget impacts. Councilor Andrade and others praised staff effort but said they hoped the timing of future negotiations would avoid conflict with the city’s budget process. The resolution passed with five yes votes, one no and one member absent or dropped from the roll-call; councilors said they will watch upcoming budget cycles carefully to account for the contract’s multi-year cost implications.
