Downers Grove Council Approves Contract with Police Sergeants

The Downers Grove Village Council voted unanimously Tuesday to approve its first labor agreement with a newly ratified police sergeant union.

The three-year agreement with the Illinois Fraternal Order of Police Labor Council Sergeants Lodge 73-2 covers the Downers Grove Police Department's 11 sergeants, according to village documents.

The bargaining unit was ratified by the Illinois State Labor Relations Board on March 7, 2013, and negotiations began shortly after. The union ratified the agreement Sept. 24.

Under the agreement, the sergeants' salaries will increase by 5.5 percent in 2013, 1.25 percent in 2014 and 2 percent in 2015. The contract includes provisions that call for a wage deferral in the event of an unexpected loss of state-shared general fund revenue—at least 10 percent or more below the previous year's revenue.

Commissioners Geoff Neustadt and Becky Rheintgen both praised the contract and the wage deferral clause in particular. 

"I think it may be the first of its kind and is something other municipalities may try to emulate in their own communities," Rheintgen said.

Rheintgen said during the meeting that the idea for the wage-deferral clause was brought forward by Commissioner Bob Barnett.

"In the event of large, unforeseen decline in our local sales tax or (LGDF funds), this contract provides for the first time ever the ability to delay wage increases while continuing to provide the services we expect," Barnett said. "This contract provides the flexibility to respond to an uncertain future together as a team, recognizing and respecting that the ability to adjust property taxes is not a blank check."

The wage increases in 2013 are expected to increase the village's General Fund expenses by approximately $61,000, of which $24,000 is included in the fiscal year 2013 budget and $37,000 is not. The added expense, combined with costs from the April flood and planned transfer of money from the General Fund to the Risk Management Fund, will require a budget amendment, according to village officials.

Despite voting in favor of the agreement, Commissioner Greg Hosé expressed concern over the total wage increase over three years, approximately 8.75 percent, which he said is essentially the amount the village is paying the union to cover the risk associated with the wage deferral clause.

"The present course of action chosen by this council is fiscally irresponsible and cuts against the lean traditions the village has created over the last several years," Hosé said.

Barnett said the wages and benefits included in the new agreement will help Downers Grove attract and retain talented police sergeants.

"It tells our employees that we value them at least as much as other communities in DuPage County value theirs," Barnett said. "That is the starting point—irresponsible or not—that staff came to early in these negotiations, because it is important."

The labor agreement is effective March 7, 2013, through April 30, 2016.