Law Enforcement

Hill County Ratifies Two-year Contract

A two-year contract covering Hill County’s detention officers, dispatchers and sheriff’s deputies was ratified in June and was implemented the first of this month.

The economic package included a 3.2 percent cost of living adjustment July 1 and on July 1 of next year pay will be increased by the cost of living adjustment prepared by the University of Montana’s School of Business and Economic Research.

MPEA Field Services Representative Tom Bivins said that the deputies will also receive 1 percent per year of longevity pay, making the first year increase 4.2 percent.

Dispatchers and detention officers will also receive the 3.2 percent increase along with the COLA increase in the second year of the contract. These MPEA members will also have a new pay matrix which increases pay for these workers by up to 75 cents an hour. Additionally, there is a longevity provision that provides .5 percent per year.

It was also agreed that the county would pay 100 percent of the cost of health insurance for employees and for employee families, which Bivins said was a significant benefit to all chapter members and their families.

In addition to the normal housekeeping work on language the county also agreed to pursue allowing its deputies to take patrol cars home, a practice in many counties that helps with response time. There was also an increase in the clothing allowance for the various groups.

Columbia Falls Chapter Secures Three Year Contract

A three-year contract for MPEA’s Columbia Falls Police Chapter was ratified in early September and approved by the city council September 19. The new contract provides for significant economic gains for the officers and dispatcher in this 14-member unit.

In the first year of the contract, there is to be a 5 percent increase in base wages retroactive to July 1. Pay increases for the second and third years of the contract will amount to the consumer price index, as published by the University of Montana, School of Business, up to a maximum of 4 percent.

MPEA Field Representative Tom Bivins points out that the new contract also provides that the city contribute up to $416 per month for each employee participating in the City Flexible Benefit plan. This is pretax money which can be used as an investment in the deferred compensation plan, in a medical savings account or as part of the premium for the health insurance plan, according to Bivins. If the employee selects to participate in the city’s health insurance plan. The entire $416 per month goes into the premium along with an additional $69 per month this year for the single premium, an additional $127 next fiscal year and an additional $192 for the last fiscal year of the contract. In short, the premium for the single plan will be budgeted for $608 per month in the last fiscal year of the contract. For those selecting to use the family plan, there is an additional $384 per year in the first year, $430 in the second and $482 in the last year. That would bring the city’s contribution to $898 per month in the last year of the contract.

Negotiators Sean Murphy, Sallie Berosik and Bivins were also able to get an increase in graveyard shift differential from 40 cents an hour to 70 cents an hour and increased the money for body armor from $500 to $750. Additionally, officers will now receive a lump sum, annually, of $700 as a uniform allowance and dispatchers will now receive $560 per year. Bivins noted that this was a taxable benefit, but that it replaces a complicated system of out-of-pocket purchases and reimbursements within 90 days.

The officers and dispatchers have a salary matrix with grades and steps. And, although not part of the contract, dispatchers are to be reclassified upward one grade. That increase alone will amount to about a dollar an hour and is on top of the other increases. Also negotiated is a new provision that will enable an employee that has not received credit for prior experience or education to do so for at least the first 60 days after contract ratification. This will impact about half the unit, according to Bivins.

There were a number of language changes with potential economic benefits. One of those provisions would enable employees who are birth fathers of a child newly placed in his home to take up to 15 days of available annual leave, or leave without pay in the event no annual leave credits exist.

In the past, officers have worked 28-day pay periods. Now, according to Bivins, all current officers will be placed on a 14-day work schedule.

Previous language dealing with physical fitness and the maintenance of abilities was long, onerous and nearly incomprehensible. That has been replaced with a few lines of understandable language. The new section simply encourages employees to maintain the physical ability to perform their assignment.

Murphy represented officers at the table and Berosik the dispatchers.