Suffolk County legislative committee approves police union's 5-year contract that'll boost pay by 18%

The Suffolk County Legislature will vote next week on a new contract between the county and the police department’s largest labor union after a committee approved it Wednesday, the last step needed to finalize an agreement that will raise officers' base pay by 18% over five years.

The legislature’s Government Operations, Personnel, and Information Technology Committee adopted a resolution Wednesday morning authorizing the county executive to execute the agreement on the Police Benevolent Association contract that runs Jan. 1, 2025 through Dec. 31, 2029. The full legislature can vote to approve it at Tuesday’s general meeting.

The committee voted 5-0 in favor, with two legislators absent, following a 30-minute discussion with PBA President Lou Civello at the Evans K. Griffing building in Riverhead.

Civello confirmed to Newsday the 1,846-member union “overwhelmingly” voted to ratify the contract in late February shortly after the county and union reached an agreement.

Legis. Anthony Piccirillo (R-Holbrook), the committee chairman, called the contract “fiscally responsible” and one that will “benefit taxpayers in the long run.”

The pay increases are staggered between 3% and 4% per year over the contract, according to the Suffolk Legislature's Budget Review Office report that analyzed the contract and concluded the fiscal impact was “reasonable.” The agreement also shortens the time it takes officers to reach the top step to nine years, according to the report.

The agreement removes one year per year over the length of the contract, except for 2028, Civello said.

He said the contract creates a “big raise at the very end in 2029," which is "by design and that saves money for the county throughout the contract."

Salary costs, including longevity pay, stipends and additional costs, are estimated to cost taxpayers an additional $229 million over the length of the contract, according to the report.

Legis. Steven Flotteron (R-Brightwaters), the deputy presiding officer, said raises over the length of the contract fall below inflation rates.

Civello said a key component of the contract was to get in front of a “recruitment crisis,” adding that officers are under “more scrutiny than ever before.”

He said the number of applicants taking the civil service test to become an officer has fallen from around 40,000 in the mid-1990s to just over 13,000 in the latest exam.

“One of the big factors here in Suffolk County is that we were not as competitive as we used to be in the past in terms of recruitment,” he said, referring to the current system where an officer reaches top step in the middle of their 12th year.

Civello said under the new contract, officers in their third year will be required to work an additional 10 days at the county’s discretion. Officers will also work an additional day each year for firearms training, which he said will reduce overtime typically used to replace the officers for that day.

The contract maintains body cameras, which Civello described as “ubiquitous” among officers.

Legis. Rob Trotta (R-Fort Salonga), a retired Suffolk County detective and frequent critic of the PBA, told Newsday after the meeting he would have preferred increases capped at 2% to match the state-mandated tax cap.

"They better hope that the sales tax revenue bucks the trend of going down and starts going up," he said.

Legis. Jason Richberg (D-West Babylon), the minority leader, asked Civello during the meeting about mental health initiatives included in the contract.

Civello said the contract calls for creating a labor management committee to look at the policies, procedures and resources available. The structure of the committee is still to be determined.

“I’ve had numerous discussions with the county executive on this topic,” Civello said, adding that there’s “a commitment from both sides that we’re going to work on this topic.”

He said the PBA currently has a “peer team” hotline available 24 hours a day for officers that can connect them to mental health resources.

Civello said a “major concession” agreed by the union relates to a reopener, which would allow for revisiting specific clauses in the contract based on agreements the county reached with other unions.

The union agreed to waive any right to a reopener related to wages and benefits for recruitment and retention, issues he said are currently worse among corrections and probation officers.

By Joe Werkmeister

joe.werkmeister@newsday.com

Joe Werkmeister covers the towns of Southampton, East Hampton and Shelter Island. He is a graduate of St. Bonaventure University and previously worked as the editor of two North Fork community newspapers.

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