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Menlo police agree to pay freeze

When the eight Menlo Park police sergeants agreed to a two-year pay freeze, along with other concessions, it seemed to set the tone for negotiations with the union representing the city's 36 line officers.

The new contract that goes before the City Council on July 26 contains almost identical terms. It freezes pay for two years; reduces the work schedule 100 hours per year, equivalent to a 4.8 percent salary cut for patrol officers; removes automatic health benefit increases; cuts sick leave from 10 to eight hours a month; and eliminates a bonus for using less than three shifts of sick leave per year. The officers would also contribute 3 percent more toward the state pension fund, yielding approximately $148,500 in savings for Menlo Park.

Tuition, child care, and recreation reimbursement will be cut in half, from $1,000 per officer to $500, which the city estimates will save an additional $18,000.

See tinyurl.com/64conxk to review the proposed terms. As with newly hired sergeants, line officers hired after July 1 would have a "3 percent at 55" pension structure if the council approves the contract.