Vero Beach police officers overwhelmingly rejected a new contract in which the city offered a 15-percent pay raise – 5 percent annually over the next three years.
According to sources familiar with the labor negotiations, 84 percent of the Vero Beach Police Officers Association Local 6019’s membership, which includes rank-and-file officers up to and including sergeants, voted last week to turn down the city’s offer.
The starting salary for a Vero Beach police officer currently is just over $50,500 per year. The police officers received 5-percent pay raises each of the last two years, City Manager Monte Falls said, adding, “If they had taken this deal, they would’ve received 5-percent raises five years in a row.”
Falls said Sunday he didn’t know how far apart the two sides were, but the negotiations would resume the second week of November.
“All I know is that they turned down our offer,” Falls said. “I don’t have any specifics as to why.
They asked for 16 percent over three years. We offered 15 percent plus some concessions.
“I thought we had hammered out a good deal, one that their bargaining team thought would be acceptable,” he added. “They took it to their union membership. It was voted down. Obviously, there’s a disconnect between the bargaining team and the members.
“So, we go back to the bargaining table.”
Reached by phone Sunday, Vero Beach Corporal Dan Brumley, a member of the officers’ bargaining team, said the union would elect a new board this week and “was not prepared to make a statement” about the vote.
Brumley would not comment on information provided by sources who said the union membership’s position changed after learning that Port St. Lucie’s police officers had received a new three-year deal that included a whopping 24-percent pay raise in the first year, followed by consecutive 5-percent annual increases the next two years.
Also, Fort Pierce recently approved a one-year, 9-percent pay raise for its police officers. The union there had sought a 15-percent raise and previously rejected offers of 3 percent and 8 percent.
Falls said the City Council included a 5-percent raise for police officers in its fiscal 2024-25 budget, which was used to set the millage rate for Vero Beach taxpayers – and that number cannot change.
Therefore, any increase in the city’s offer would impact the ensuing years of whatever contract is negotiated.
“We can’t go above the 5 percent for this year,” Falls said. “We’ve got to keep Year 1 where it is and work on Years 2 and 3. What we do and how we do it, we’ll find out when we resume our negotiations.”
In the meantime – and until a new contract is ratified by the union members – the city’s police officers will continue to work under the terms of last year’s contract.
Asked if he was frustrated, the city manager replied, “You always want to have a contract. We thought we had one.”