Nahant proposes raises for police, fire, DPW

NAHANT – Members of the fire department and department of public works will receive raises totaling 9 percent over three years while members of the police department will receive a total of 8 percent in raises, plus a 1 percent increase for education incentives, over the same time period, according to drafts of the new contracts presented to the Board of Selectmen.”I thank the unions at this point for their cooperation. We had good discussions,” Town Administrator Mark Cullinan told the selectmen Thursday night when he presented them with the contracts for review. “I think it’s a fair solution for both the town and the unions.”The contracts were last negotiated in 2007 and then were extended for a year at the close of 2010, Cullinan said after the meeting. He also told selectmen that the unions had agreed to no increases this year as well as three years ago because of the town’s budget constraints.Cullinan told selectmen that the contract negotiations for the unions were all based on the premise that the town could afford a 3-percent increase each of the years from 2012 through 2014. Any increases in benefits also had to figure into this amount.Cullinan detailed several smaller changes in the contracts.Two senior firefighters will be promoted to officers, which will be funded with a decrease in “out-of-classification” money in the contract, Cullinan said.Members of the police department will receive 3-percent increases in the first and third years of the contract. In the second year, they will receive a 2-percent raise. The remaining 1 percent for education benefits will be in lieu of the Quinn Bill, which Town Meeting voted this April to eliminate. Cullinan said that the 1-percent increase in total department cost covers the union’s desired increase in educational incentives. After the meeting, Cullinan did not have the specific figures for how much officers would gain in education funding but told selectmen that officers currently receive an additional 5 percent in salary if they have earned an associates degree, 7.5 percent for a bachelor’s degree and 12.5 percent for earning a master’s degree.Cullinan said he expected the contracts to be signed and finalized at the board’s June 2 meeting. He added that because the contracts remained in negotiations, he had not yet determined how much the renewed contracts would cost the town.