BUFFALO, N.Y. (WKBW) — In a special session meeting Tuesday afternoon, Buffalo's Common Council approved the new police union contract with the City of Buffalo. This comes after union police officers were working without a contract for nearly three years.
It's a $37 million contract from 2021 through 2025 with an additional cost of $2.7 million for overtime and holiday pay.
There will be a retroactive salary increase of 3% from July 1 2021 through June 30 2022 and a 4% increase for each of the next three years.
The contract also includes quarterly performance evaluations for officers and mandating new hires to live in Buffalo for 7 years. According to the city, 63% of officers live in the city.
Longevity payments will also increase by $20 a year.
Council President Chris Scanlon said the Council also called the special meeting to make sure the new police recruits that will be sworn in Friday are hired under the new agreements of the contract.
When council members reviewed the contract during a committee meeting early Tuesday, some raised concerns over how the city can pay for this.
"Our budget is going to grow exponentially over the next four years without a doubt. Just based on the cost of running government, cost of contracts, cost of pensions, cost of health insurance, cost of everything — our budget is not — it's unsustainable. I mean it's just unsustainable to see our budget grow and at the same time we see our revenues stay pretty flat," Niagara District Council member David Rivera said.
But some of the city officials taking questions about the contract said the city can afford this.
"We believe that this is a fair agreement which provides the city with necessary long-term fiscal stability," Cavette Chambers with the city's Corporation Counsel said.
Still, Finance Committee Chair and Fillmore District Council member Mitch Nowakowski said the city is "on the verge of walking towards a financial cliff."
"We need to talk and have our state delegation in Albany fight really hard for additional state aid that has remained stagnant for over a decade. And so this isn't just because — the municipality in the City of Buffalo is not asking for more state aid just because we're in a bad position. We're stating that we're in a bad position because [revenue] remained flat and stagnant for so long," he said.
The police union contract expires June 30th, 2025. Scanlon said with he hopes the city and union can get back to negotiating so there is a future contract in place as soon as possible.
