A very pricey police contract
That might break the law?
Negotiators for the city of Austin and the Austin Police Association have apparently agreed to a tentative labor contract that may violate a recent court order relating to secret police records.
A Travis County judge recently ruled that the city may no longer maintain a "G-File" where certain police records related to misconduct investigations are shielded from public access. However, the contract the union and city just agreed to says that existing G-File records will remain secret but future records will not be secret.
Huh. I don't know if this is the city offering a sop to the police union that it imagines will eventually get struck down in court or if the city is counting on the state legislature intervening on behalf of the cops next spring. Either way, this is putting the Council members, including Mayor Kirk Watson, in a very awkward position, since they are all on record supporting the voter-approved law that prohibited the G-File.
But perhaps more importantly...the cost: Skye Seipp of the Statesman reports:
Austin police officers could receive a 28% raise over the next five years after the city and police union shook hands Monday on a tentative contract after months of bargaining.
A final cost estimate was not immediately available, but the five-year deal is expected to cost nearly $215 million throughout the life of the contract based on a presentation the city showed during bargaining on Monday.
...The deal would give most sworn officers an 8% raise in year one, a 6% increase in year two, a 5% raise in years three and four and then a 4% increase in year five. Additionally, all officers will receive a one-time $2,000 bonus at the start of the contract.
...This is the largest pay increase package in the city's meet and confer history since the late 1990s, although most previous contracts only lasted four years instead of five. Regardless, the year one pay increase of 8% is the largest single-year pay raise in the city's labor negotiation history.
Umm...so is the police association going to throw its full weight behind the Tax Rate Election that the city is going to have to hold in a couple years to keep the lights on? A TRE will be necessary regardless, but throwing this kind of money at the cops will require the proposed tax hike to be even bigger.
