Greensburg police officers will receive raises but must pay a portion of their health insurance premiums under terms of a new contract approved Friday by city council.

The five-year contract between the city and the Fraternal Order of Police General Greene Lodge No. 56, which takes effect Jan. 1 and continues through Dec. 31, 2021, covers 23 officers. Chief Chad Zucco and Capt. Robert Stafford have their own employment contracts.

“We're really, really happy with the contract. It was very fair, and it was good, professional negotiations,” Mayor Robert Bell said after the special meeting.

Both Bell and city Administrator Susan Trout said they wanted to avoid binding arbitration if an agreement had not been reached through negotiations.

Trout said the agreement outlines $500 annual pay increases for new hires and 1.8 percent annual raises for other officers.

Police officers approved the contract Tuesday. Jason Dieter, president of the General Greene Lodge, could not be reached for comment.

The new contract allows the city to institute a two-tier salary structure that reduces the pay of officers hired after Jan. 1 by about $12,600. A second-year patrolman hired under the new contract with a beginning salary of $50,000 would make $50,500, compared to $63,142 for a second-year officer hired before Jan. 1.

The city likely will realize the savings next year, when Greensburg moves to fill two positions on the force to bring it to full staff, the mayor said. City council terminated two officers this year.

Bell said it is important for the city have a two-tier salary structure that will reduce police department costs. It is the most expensive department in the city's budget, Trout said.

“They (police) realized it was getting to a breaking point,” Bell said, noting that officials want to keep the police force fully staffed.

As part of the initiative to keep costs down, police officers for the first time will pay part of their health insurance premiums, Bell said. Officers hired before Jan. 1 will contribute $40 per paycheck, while officers hired after Jan. 1 will contribute $25 per paycheck in 2017 and 2018, and $30 per pay period in the remaining three years of the agreement.

Public works employees represented by the Teamsters union also have agreed to pay a portion of their health insurance coverage, and the city intends to have non-union personnel in 2017 follow the lead of other workers in paying part of the premiums, the mayor said.

The agreement gives officers more pay for working the afternoon and overnight shifts, with the shift differential increasing from $1.25 per hour to $1.50 per hour.

Joe Napsha is a Tribune-Review staff writer. Reach him at 724-836-5252 or jnapsha@tribweb.com.

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