Orangetown lawmakers did not reach a final decision about contracts with the at Tuesday's board meeting, but noted rising costs are presenting a problem for the town.
Supervisor Andy Stewart and other board members are with the Rockland County Patrolmen’s Benevolent Association (PBA) that would retroactively implement 2.25 percent raises for 2011.
Going forward, town police would see a 2.25 percent raise for 2012, 2.35 percent raise for 2013, 2.45 percent raise for 2014 and 2.50 percent raise for 2015. Benefits would remain the same, officials noted.
"It costs more and more every year," Stewart said. "It's not really an affordable solution."
Three local lawmakers—Tom Diviny, Denis Troy and Paul Valentine—have already signed off on the agreement.
Stewart said the town is calling on New York State to mend the way arbitration is carried out. Currently, the PBA looks to neighboring towns and bases their numbers partially on that.
"Local governments have to have more latitude to negotiate," Stewart said.
Still, the final vote remains weeks out.
"That agreement would not be ready for a final decision next week, as we thought it might be," he said, noting one lawmaker will be absent, and citing other reasons, as well.
Stewart noted police are crucial to the town—"we have low crime rate, and we want to keep it that way," he said—but rising costs are a burden on taxpayers.
"Our hands are tied as a community and as taxpayers," Valentine said.
"We would rather have 90 or 100 police officers in a program we can afford, but unfortunately we're going to have fewer and fewer officers as the budget gets crunched," Stewart added.
Thank you for your reply. I am offering you support to get tough. Let's change "very well may result in lay-offs" to "will result in lay-offs". Orangetown is not "Dodge City". Take the police force down to 80 as a first step. As to "getting real" you have two golf courses subsidized by taxpayers. One has 27 holes the other 9. Eliminate the 9 hole one and make the other one profitable. Use the money saved elsewhere. As to "while I agree we have to live within our means" clearly the PBA is NOT living within the taxpayers "means" and that is my "common sense". So do it whatever way you want with a scalpel, sledge hammer or screwdriver just so the taxpayers don't continue to be "screwed". The public is tired of rising taxes. You have our support. Stop advising me on what you believe is "common sense". My "common sense" says you do not need Broadacres if you have Blue Hill and it is not overrun with golfers. But talk to Mr Troy about this - he's the one that calls Broadacres an "asset" and bought that "jewel". You were elected to find solutions to rising taxes - we are broke - the County is broke and the cops want more cash? The ones who need a break are the taxpayers and the ones who need to "get real" are those who sit on the Town Board. Off you go now and get down to it instead of whining about what is out of your control. The only control we have right now is whether to re-elect you or not at the next election!
Not only did the PBA get over 3% raises; those with over 20 years of service got an additional pay raise of of close to ten percent. Now this "longevity" pay goes up with every raise the Town or the Arbitrator gives them.The Haverstraw PBA is still fighting to get the longevity pay that Clarkstown PBA has which totals 16% additional pay if you have 20 years of service. That is close to $30,000 dollars per PBA member. Who lost by the Town Board taking a tough stance. We, the taxpayers did!!!! The likelihood of this eventually being imposed on Orangetown via an arbitrator will happen sooner than later. Comparing them to other PD's in the County will lead to this potential financially devastating decision. As long as Sheldon Silver is still running New York State, this will never change. Tough choice Paul. Many who don't understand the process will never comprehend the bind you are in. Can't kick the can down the road and blame the process! Just ask us here in North Rockland how great our last arbitration battle went. Good luck.
I don't have anything like the benefits they have. Yes the police are an "asset" but this asset is also a huge "liability". Sorry but I want the OPD downsized. If the greedy want more then let them watch some of their brethern collect unemployment benefits. I did once! They don't "bargain" - they wait out the process until the Town caves in or the arbitrators cave in. Let's have a referendum: Do you ... a) Want to raise taxes every year to pay the police more or b) Keep taxes constant and downsize the OPD accordingly And stop offering as a solution to kick the can down the road for two years. There needs to be a stand on this issue now. Negotiate with the PBA how many cops we need to lay off to keep the budget neutral. .
Everytime the police setup a check point along a local road to look for expired drivers' registrations, the police officers doing it ARE PAID OVERTIME. Why? This is a no- brainer. Why should the public be asked to pay overtime wages to have their registrations checked? No business employing workers during the normal daytime working hours would do this. Yet the police dictate that it must be so,,, and our elected officials just go along to get along. It takes guts to make change. Let's see some guts for a change.
Mr. Walker was not crushed. He was buoyed, winning by a solid seven points in a high-turnout race. Governors and local leaders will now have help in controlling budgets. Down the road there will be fewer contracts in which you work for, say, 23 years for a city, then retire with full salary and free health care for the rest of your life—paid for by taxpayers who cannot afford such plans for themselves, and who sometimes have no pension at all. The big meaning of Wisconsin is that a public injustice is in the process of being righted because a public mood is changing." Peggy Noonan - Today's WSJ. Paid heed Mr. Stewart,
Under all conditions the Budget curv must curv down not up !! No excuses the Buck stops with you Andy sorry. Can anthing be privatized put out for bid ?? sold, rented, Combined services with the school system ? like buliding and grounds,plowing,maintence, anthing, Can we see if Donald Trump is interested in taking Rockland State property and bulid Trump first time home comunity 200 k and under, Would be nice. He would be breaking ground next month and create many jobs. Just saying, Hey Paul and Andy thanks at least for letting us here from you, But I think we some how need to mass advertize to the public to get them involved and informed because town hall just does not cut it !! Tweet,facebook,e-mail,reverse 911, something to say hey wake up !!
A police officer's pension is determined by the last three years of salary. So it is a given that when a member of the Police Department gets ready to retire, the others police officers throw as much overtime as they can over to him/her. This effectively jacks up the amount of pension that that officer will receive at taxpayers' expenses for the rest of their life. Why not stop this abuse? Where is the courage, Paul and Andy? Do you have the guts to really deal with this? We are waiting see if you really intend to lead us out of this madness.