Quinn Bill straining municipal budgets

LYNN – One day last summer, then-Lynn Mayor Edward Clancy Jr. came face-to-face with a state aid cut that left the city struggling to pay local police officers the benefits earned from taking educational courses through the Quinn Bill.When the legislation was first enacted in 1970, it was agreed that the state would pay 50 percent of the costs, leaving the town or city to pick up the other half.But economic hard times have brought a new reality – the state isn’t paying its share, which means communities must find money for the entire tab.Clancy said the annual amount needed to pay Lynn’s share of the Quinn Bill expenses is $750,000 – equal to the salary of 10 schoolteachers.Under the city’s collective-bargaining contract with the Lynn Police Association, effective July 1, 2000, eligible police officers receive Educational Incentive Pay weekly. The contract denotes that in the event the state laws related to the Quinn Bill are amended, or the state discontinues funding its portion, “all officers shall continue to receive the full educational incentive to which he or she is entitled? and the city shall pay the entire amount.””That’s it in black and white,” Clancy said at the time.While Lynn has continued to pay its police officers, other communities have not. Earlier this week, a group of Scituate police officers filed a lawsuit, contending they should be paid through the Quinn Bill, albeit from the state or the municipality.Scituate, Mashpee and Wrentham are among a growing number of communities where police officers are fighting to keep the benefits assured by the legislation. By attending college classes in criminal justice and other law-enforcement related subjects, police officers earning an associate, bachelor or master’s degree can receive significant increases in base, typically from 10 to 25 percent.Gov. Deval Patrick reduced the state’s commitment to the Quinn Bill in fiscal 2009 from $50.2 million to a mere $10 million in fiscal 2010.As the lawsuits move forward in the courts and fiscal 2011 approaches, eyes are on how the judges will rule and what impact that will have on police departments statewide and the Quinn Bill itself.So far, Lynn police officers have been paid in accordance with their labor contract, which includes the Quinn Bill provision. “It all depends on the contract,” said Deputy Police Chief Kenneth Santoro, noting that Scituate police officers receive their Quinn Bill payments twice a year.Clancy last year reminded the City Council that it was the city’s obligation to pay the Quinn Bill salary enhancements. According to Santoro, Lynn police officers receive the payments weekly.”We’re not exactly on point with what Scituate did,” he said, referring to the way the incentives are paid out. “What we receive in fiscal 2010 was funded in fiscal 2009. It’s a line item in our budget. When the state pays out, that money goes back to the city. We never see it. The payment of the Quinn Bill to our officers is not dependent on the state paying the city. It’s a line in the Police Department budget, so we don’t have to wait for the state to pay.”Clancy warned that if the governor further reduces the state’s share of Quinn Bill payments, towns and cities will be forced to spread that debt over other departments.Mayor Judith Flanagan Kennedy, who later this year must balance the municipal budget for fiscal 2011, did not return calls to The Item Wednesday.