Palatine Approves Contracts For Police, Public Works Employees

The Palatine Village Council approved a three-year contract with its police union Tuesday.

The contract calls for a 1 percent raise in base wages in 2011 and 2012. Palatine Village Manager Reid Ottesen said that with the raises, the base pay for officers in 2011 will range from $29.08 to $40.52 an hour–about $60,000 to $84,281 annually.

The raise will be applied retroactively for 2011.

The contract also includes a "mid-point" wage adjustment in 2013. The salaries of Palatine officers will be adjusted in 2013 based on the salaries of officers in eight nearby, comparable communities.

The eight communities Palatine is compared to are Arlington Heights, Rolling Meadows, Buffalo Grove, Des Plaines, Hoffman Estates, Schaumburg, Mount Prospect and Elk Grove Village.

Ottesen said the wage adjustment will be based on the average salary of the fourth and fifth ranked communities out of the eight.

Ottesen said that the mid-point is likely where Palatine would have ended up had the police contract gone to arbitration.

"But it's without all the expense of going to arbitration, we won't need attorneys," Ottesen said.

The Palatine Fraternal Order of Police includes 67 village employees.

Palatine also approved a new contract for 41 public works employees in the International Union of Operating Engineers Local 150. The two-year contract includes a 1 percent increase in base wages in 2011 and 2012 which will cost Palatine about $24,000.

The contract also included a 10 percent increase of health insurance rates paid to the union and a merit-based incentive program extended to mechanics.