Updated union contracts invest in future of Longboat public safety

Thanks to less-than-competitive salaries and benefits, the Longboat Key Police and Fire Rescue departments have struggled to fill vacancies, but newly ratified and updated union contracts for each department are improving recruitment. 

The new union contracts for the police and fire departments represent the “single largest investment to date” in public safety, according to Town Manager Howard Tipton. These contracts will help make positions in both departments more competitive in the workforce by increasing wages and other benefits. Both were ratified unanimously at the June 5 commission meeting.

The investment in the police force will be an increase of $95,750 for the remainder of fiscal year 2023 and $396,400 for fiscal year 2024. That includes a 29.7% increase in pay for officers and a 30.1% wage increase for sergeants. The second and third years of the agreement will also allow for a 2% adjustment to account for inflation and for the salaries to remain competitive.

This investment in the fire department will be $115,000 for the rest of this fiscal year and $716,850 for the upcoming fiscal year. A 23% pay plan increase for firefighter paramedics is anticipated, along with a 37.3% increase for lieutenants.  

An interim memorandum of understanding (MOU) for June to September will begin the updated agreement between the Longboat Key Police Department and the Southwest Florida Police Benevolent Association. Following this memorandum, a three-year contract will go into place. The contract would have been negotiated this summer, but Tipton said it was necessary to negotiate and implement the MOU sooner due to the situation the department found itself in. 

According to Tipton, the town found itself lacking “more than expected” when it came to wages, take-home vehicles and retirement contributions. He also said the departments were struggling to fill vacancies. Commissioner BJ Bishop was in full support of the contract. 

“What concerns me is, with both police and fire, we got well out of the competitive range and I am concerned at what point this was allowed to be this far out of the range that we are now down a considerable number of police officers,” said BJ Bishop. “I think we're moving forward to hopefully never see this get this far out of kilt again.” 

Chief of Police George Turner emphasized how the previous three-year contract had left the department with a low, non-competitive salary.

“These contracts last three years, so three years ago we may have been mid-range, but by the end of the three years we were definitely at the bottom,” Turner said.

Pay increases within the police department follow a set course of steps. Each year, officers or sergeants get a pay increase depending on the next step in the plan. The new contract reduced the number of steps in this plan, thus decreasing the time between higher salaries. 

According to Turner, his department had as many as five full-time and a couple of part-time vacancies. Before the new contract negotiations, he said no one had been applying. Now, he has already been able to hire two new officers with interviews underway for other positions.

“It has put me in a position as chief where I can recruit top-level transfers from outside of our area and that’s right now proving very successful,” Turner said. 

A similar contract was ratified between the town, who employs the fire department, and the International Association of Firefighters Local 2546. Like the police department’s contract, this also reduced the number of steps between salary increases. This MOU will remain effective from June 18 to Sept. 30, 2024, when a new contract will need to be negotiated. 

According to Fire Chief Paul Dezzi, the new union agreement is helping the department be competitive once again. Dezzi hopes existing vacancies will be filled now that salaries are higher. He said the difficulty filling the vacancies has taken a toll on some of his responders.

“A lot of these guys have not been getting days off,” Dezzi said. “These guys have really been supportive and they understand the position we’ve been in.”

An added level of difficulty for recruiting fire rescue responders is the requirement that they also be paramedics. Emergency medical technicians (EMTs) can only operate basic life support and can also assist paramedics. Paramedics are able to administer advanced life support. For perspective, an EMT can get an IV ready, but only a paramedic can actually administer it. All firefighter paramedics with Longboat Key Fire Rescue are also trained in pediatric advanced life support. 

“We’re competitive now, we were not before,” Dezzi said. 

Dezzi, Turner and Tipton all share the sentiment that the investment is important to the community in order to provide the best level of service. For police, Turner does not hire any officers fresh out of the academy. He requires all his new officers to have years of experience. In the case of fire rescue, the requirement to be a paramedic on top of the firefighter position is unusual. 

“We’re looking to hire the best,” Tipton said. “When we look at the numbers we’re investing in police and fire, it’s because that’s what our residents are asking for.”