Where do you stand on the Policemans' Union Benefit contract? (Houston: health insurance, credit)

[wehotex]

Originally Posted by Azure110

I have no comment about Sculley or the Firefighter dept, but I will say that it is obvious the police union doesn't care what the city budget is. All they care about is maximizing the benefits for the police department without any regards to the city and its taxpayers.

This is how unions destroyed a lot of private companies over the years.

It is pretty easy to make something like this pass is you use sympathy. "Well it is for the police." Just like "Well it is for the poor children" got prek4sa passed.

Do most San Antonians REALLY care about the police that much? They're just like any other City employee to me.

[Indu Bitably]

Don't get me started on the police. Getting them to look for fingerprints (nice easy fingerprints you can see with your own eyes) after a break-in is like pulling teeth; I've had multiple experiences with that. The one time they went into one of my properties and actually "investigated," they walked out of the house at 11:00pm, all lights on and front door wide open...right after a break-in. Just walked away. I called the captain and he was like "so what"? I'm not talking about a rundown house; this was a $200K property.

[outafocus]

It is UNIONS that make the police and firemen so greedy. Policemen and Firemen are employees of the city. They earn their money, but they are becoming a burden. I think Sculley is overpaid, but she has a HUGE job to do. The firemen and policemen are well paid, and they need to think of the burden they are putting on the taxpayer just like any other employee needs to understand the costs of doing business in the companies they work for. A city or company that goes bankrupt is no good for anybody.

Unions were formed to give fair treatment and pay to employees. Now they have grown more corrupt and greedy than the companies they unionized. The UAW and the Detroit 3 are perfect examples of what union greed can do.

[L210]

Originally Posted by wehotex

.

Well, consider the source, but I heard a paid ad on WOAI that claimed that Scully makes more than any of the other major Texas cities.

I'll add links later if people want them, but the Dallas city manager made more last year. Sculley's salary will match his this year. SA has more people than Dallas. I hope no one comes in here with the metro argument because city managers do not manage MSAs.

[redguard57]

Most employees survive in a world where health plan benefits are constantly reduced and defined pension benefits

I don't really understand the idea that we should demand everyone have crappy benefits just because some workers have crappy benefits. It's like saying "my life sucks and yours should too." Everyone is going to start negotiations at the maximum benefit to themselves and then compromise down to get the best deal possible. I don't expect anyone to do anything less.

Having been in these kinds of situations on the labor side - if you start out "nice," then management's starting position will be that much lower and pretty soon you'll be bargaining for zero benefits. You always want to start out saying you want more than you actually do. That's how negotiations work. It doesn't matter if it's public or private sector. I worked for a school once and in an environment where there was more money coming in and budgets were healthy - management's first offer was a pay cut.

That said, my experience is that older workers are usually in leadership positions in these things. Older workers are usually sicker workers, and so health benefits are of extreme importance to them. I've never had major health problems, so I was always wished that we bargained more for straight up cash than benefits. Cash is easier on the bottom line too, because you can plan for and predict agreed upon one-time or fixed-percentage raises. The problem with health benefits is that the increases are almost always more than anyone expects, but there's no way to guess exactly how much more they'll be.

If we de-coupled health insurance from employment none of this would be a problem.

[gabetx]

Wow! I am glad I caught this thread. I was just looking at applying for SAPD. I love San Antonio. It looks like right now is not a good time with the contract negotiations going on. On top of that, the starting salary is not very impressive nor are the step increases. The pension is also not very attractive. Throw in five eight hour work days in SA vs four ten's here in Corpus... Forget it!

I am surprised and disappointed to see that SAPD salary and benefits are on the lower end of the stick for PD's in the state of Texas. The only one, of the top eight biggest cities, that is worse is Dallas PD.

It is sad when a city of 320,000 has better pay and benefits for their officers than a city of 1.5 million. I'll stay with Corpus PD for now and maybe look at Austin or Houston in the future.

[huckster]

It is sad.

Originally Posted by gabetx

Wow! I am glad I caught this thread. I was just looking at applying for SAPD. I love San Antonio. It looks like right now is not a good time with the contract negotiations going on. On top of that, the starting salary is not very impressive nor are the step increases. The pension is also not very attractive. Throw in five eight hour work days in SA vs four ten's here in Corpus... Forget it!

I am surprised and disappointed to see that SAPD salary and benefits are on the lower end of the stick for PD's in the state of Texas. The only one, of the top eight biggest cities, that is worse is Dallas PD.

It is sad when a city of 320,000 has better pay and benefits for their officers than a city of 1.5 million. I'll stay with Corpus PD for now and maybe look at Austin or Houston in the future.

[L210]

Base pay after academy without a degree.

Houston - $45,224
hpdcareer.com - Benefits

San Antonio - $40,284
Pay and Benefits | San Antonio Police Department Careers

Dallas - $42,941
Dallas Police Department

Fort Worth - $52,176
Salary & Benefits | Fort Worth, Texas, Police Department

Austin - $56,397
Benefits and Salary | AustinTexas.gov - The Official Website of the City of Austin

El Paso - $38,184
City of El Paso Texas

Incentive Pay (annual calculations)

Houston: $3,640 for bachelor's, $6,240 for master's, $8,840 for doctoral, and other incentives that aren't listed on the website.

San Antonio: Up to $4,200 for higher education, $4,200 for night differential, up to $2,880 for TCOLE certification, $600 for language, $1,884 for standby.

Dallas: $3,600 for bachelor's degree or higher, $2,400 for intermediate certification, $6,000 for master certification, and shift differential at a flat percentage of salary.

Fort Worth: $720 for associate's degree, $1,440 for bachelor's or higher, and $1,500 bilingual pay.

Austin: $2,100 bilingual pay, $3,600 shift differential, $1,200 associate's degree, $2,640 for bachelor's, $3,600 for master's, and $1,500 master peace officer certification.

El Paso: $660 for intermediate certification, $1,260 for advanced certification, $240 for associate's, $1,500 for bachelor's, $1,800 for master's, and shift differential 4% of base pay.

Yep, SAPD's salary doesn't look so good, but it does increase to over $60,000 after 3 years of service. Their education and certification pay is generous compared to others except for Dallas' certification pay and Houston's education pay.

It's harder to track down city manager salaries. I gave up on tracking down the police department pension plans for the largest cities in Texas.

Last year, the City Council voted to increase Sculley’s salary to $375,000 this year and $400,000 by 2015. She also became eligible for one-time bonuses of $50,000 this year and $65,000 in 2015. For the record, she doesn’t earn “more than any city manager in Texas.” That distinction goes to Dallas City Manager A.C. Gonzalez, who is making $400,000 a year in base salary.

http://www.expressnews.com/news/news...ey-5905025.php

[Azure110]

Originally Posted by wehotex

Do most San Antonians REALLY care about the police that much? They're just like any other City employee to me.

I don't know. I can't speak for others here in SA.

[L210]

Originally Posted by gabetx

Wow! I am glad I caught this thread. I was just looking at applying for SAPD. I love San Antonio. It looks like right now is not a good time with the contract negotiations going on. On top of that, the starting salary is not very impressive nor are the step increases. The pension is also not very attractive. Throw in five eight hour work days in SA vs four ten's here in Corpus... Forget it!

I am surprised and disappointed to see that SAPD salary and benefits are on the lower end of the stick for PD's in the state of Texas. The only one, of the top eight biggest cities, that is worse is Dallas PD.

It is sad when a city of 320,000 has better pay and benefits for their officers than a city of 1.5 million. I'll stay with Corpus PD for now and maybe look at Austin or Houston in the future.

I personally don't like the 10-hour schedules because I would have to pay someone to walk my dog.

El Paso PD's pay and benefits are worse than SAPD's. Dallas' starting pay is slightly better. SAPD officers pay no medical insurance premium for themselves or their families. I don't know how insurance coverage can get better than that unless you want the deductibles to be dropped to $0. Their pension plan is much worse than Austin's, however. But, Austin is out of the norm with their pension plan and pay (when factoring in cost of living). After the probationary period, APD's base pay jumps to $63,287.

Years of Service Percentage of Total Average Salary

20 45%

23 60%

25 70%

27 80%

30 86%

http://austintexas.gov/page/benefits-and-salary

This is from the Austin PD website.

The Austin Police Retirement system pays a pension based on a minimum 23 years of service at any age for a full retirement. It is based on the following formula: Years of service (23) X multiplier (3.2%)= percentage of base salary (73.6%). Officers may stay additional years past 23 to accrue additional retirement funds with no limit. Military personnel are eligible to purchase an additional 2 years into the retirement system added on after 23 years of service with the Austin Police Department. Compared to most police departments in Texas and the United States our retirement system ranks as one of the best. Most police agencies offer a 20 year retirement at 50% of their pay.

Benefits and Salary | AustinTexas.gov - The Official Website of the City of Austin