Bucyrus Police officers, dispatchers under new three-year contract; raises noted

A new three-year wage scale contract for police officers and dispatchers was approved by Bucyrus City Council in December.

Police Chief Neil Assenheimer said the only thing that needed to be negotiated in the contract, which is for three years instead of two, were wages through 2026.

“The city came up with a proposal to add a three-year deal,” Assenheimer said.

The hourly rate for probationary police officers rose from $25.54 per hour to $29.02 for 2024 and the hourly rate for officers with more than three years of experience went from $27.90 to $31.50.

The hourly wage for lieutenants went from $31.25 to $35.28 for 2024 and the hourly pay for captains went from $35.94 to $40.57.

For dispatchers the hourly rate for probationary personnel went from $19.66 per hour to $22.85 for 2024 and the hourly pay for dispatchers with more than three years of experience rose from $23.73 to $27.12.

The three-year contract's hourly pay was calculated on the basis of an adjustment of $2.10 and an increase of 5%, Assenheimer said.

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Pay raises for the last two years of the contract were negotiated at 2.5% for each year.

The contract maintains newly hired officers and dispatchers start at the probationary step, however, laterally transferred officers may at the discretion of the chief to be placed in the one or two years of experience category, but not at the level of having more than three years of experience.

Assenheimer noted the contract does not budget for back pay, which became unnecessary because it was passed before its start date, unlike the previous contract that was under negotiation for almost nine months after its start day in January, 2022.

“We are good to go,” said Assenheimer. “Hopefully, we don’t have to do anything like this again until 2026.”

This article originally appeared on Bucyrus Telegraph-Forum: Bucyrus City Council passes police wage contract through 2026