BOULDER, Colo. — In a statement issued Tuesday, the collective bargaining unit representing the Boulder Police Department said its members do not feel supported after the Boulder City Council sided with the city during salary negotiations.
The Boulder Police Officers Association (BPOA) represents every officer, detective, and sergeant within the department during collective bargaining negotiations.
The best and final offer from the City of Boulder was a 4% general salary increase, while the BPOA proposed a raise of 6% for the one-year contract. Ultimately, the Boulder City Council voted Thursday to go with the city's 4% raise offer for the department.
"In our opinion, the negotiations didn't go very well," said Boulder Police Officer Bryan Plyter, president of BPOA. "This has been a roller coaster of emotions."
Approximately 180 employees are covered by BPOA's contract. Boulder city officials told Denver7 there are roughly 2,200 employees citywide during peak seasonal employment.
According to Plyter, the BPOA first proposed a 10% raise.
"We have some of the best people here, so why not shoot for number one in our comparables for salary?" Plyter said. "Officers are more generally likely to go out to other agencies that are paying more, offering better benefits, things like that. So there's definitely concerns about retaining the good officers that we've spent so much time and investment and training to become the officers that they are."
Plyter said the 6% raise would have sent a message that the city is willing to work toward a competitive salary among similar departments. Denver7 asked how significant the 2% difference is between BPOA's offer and the city's offer.
"The 2% is significant in this situation because every percent that we don't get this year — because we're already so far behind and we're trying to catch up over time — every percent that we don't get this year means that we have to try to get it in the years beyond that," Plyter explained. "I want experienced officers that want to come work here. I want good officers to stay here and work here in this building, with the people in this building that I would lay my life down for."
According to BPOA, an officer's starting pay within the department is $78,499.20 annually.
The city's offer of a 4% raise included the removal of certain language related to a specific insurance plan design. Those with the City of Boulder said the BPOA contract is the only employee bargaining agreement that requires such a specific design, something they claim prevents flexibility.
BPOA said 92 of their members utilize that health care plan.
"It's language that we historically negotiated into the contract by giving something up, which is important, I think, for people to know we used to have what we call a 90/10 premium pay split with the city. The city wanted us to move to an 80/20, and to give them that, we got this language in our contract to basically say that the city has to offer a low deductible health plan with a deductible that doesn't go higher than $1,500," Plyter explained. "A 90/10 premium split is a pretty valuable thing, and then for them to not offer us anything in exchange for taking away later negotiations obviously leaves a bad taste in our mouth."
An agreement could not be reached during negotiations, and an impasse was declared. A third-party arbitrator was recruited to help. The arbitrator found that BPOA's proposal of a 6% raise was affordable and consistent with the financial ability of the city.
Boulder City Council, however, voted against the arbitrator's findings — something they are allowed to do.
"I think we just expected a little bit more of an explanation, at least, if you're going to go against an independent, third-party person that was presented evidence on this and ultimately ruled in the favor of your police officers," Plyter said. "It was definitely difficult in some situations to be strong in front of the 177 people who are looking to me at that moment on what we do next."
The City of Boulder is experiencing "significant budgetary pressures," forecasting a budget shortfall of $7.5 million in the fund that covers most public safety services, according to Sarah Huntley, a spokesperson with the city.
"By law, we are required to have a balanced budget – and as good fiscal stewards, we must look holistically across the organization to meet both internal and community needs," Huntley said in a statement sent to Denver7.
"We were convinced that the arbitrator did not fully recognize where we are," said Boulder City Councilman Mark Wallach. "He was suggesting we had resources that we don't have, that we were in a financial condition that we are not, and I would have preferred that he ruled in our favor, but I thought his ruling was a poor one."
Even though Boulder City Council Members voted unanimously to accept the city's best offer, Wallach said it was not a "happy decision."
"It's simply a reflection of where we are economically," Wallach told Denver7. "We get our revenue from two main sources. The first is sales tax, and that's been flattening out. The second is real estate property taxes, and real property values have been flattening out... On every front, we're looking at difficult financial circumstance."
Wallach hopes that by next year, the city council can provide the Boulder Police Department with a more significant raise.
"We can have this conversation again next year. Maybe things will be better," Wallach said. "Nobody is locked in for a long period of time. This is simply a reflection of where we are today."
Nearly all vacant positions within the City of Boulder are under a hiring freeze until the end of the year, as a result of a potential budget shortfall ranging from $8 million to $10 million.
"Every department has a hiring freeze. Every department has been asked to at least plan for the possibility of 5% cuts. This is not singling out the police, not in the least," Wallach said. "There is simply no aspect of this where we are either denigrating or belittling what the police do, but this is really a separate issue."
Huntley said the City of Boulder negotiated in good faith with BPOA and asserted they were successful in reaching agreements on a number of points.
The statement from Huntley continued to state that "the city wishes it was in a position to offer all its employees higher raises. We understand the challenges employees are facing with inflation and other economic stressors. And we absolutely appreciate the work of our police officers and other first responders. They provide an essential service to our community."
The current circumstances allow BPOA to request that the raise issue head to the ballot for voters to decide in the fall. On August 21, the Boulder City Council will address the request and hold a public hearing to discuss the title and language of the ballot item.
"Even now, the Boulder Police Officers Association is willing to talk to the city and work this out, so that it doesn't have to go as far as a ballot measure," Plyter said.
It's been 20 years since a contract revision was sent to Boulder voters, according to Huntley. In 2005, voters rejected contract language that was supported by the Boulder Municipal Employees Association and opted for the city's best offer.
