The Franklin Reporter & Advocate Eight Villages, One Community
Members of Franklin Township PBA Local 154 will receive 2 percent and 3 percent salary hikes during the course of new 5-year contracts approved Sept. 25 by the Township Council.
The contracts had previously been ratified by the membership of PBA 154 and the PBA 154 Supervisory Officers Association.
The contracts are retroactively in effect as of Jan. 1, 2019, through Dec. 31 2023.
There was no comment by the Council when the contracts were approved, although the Council did briefly adjourn into an executive session prior to the vote to discuss them.
There was also no mention of the controversial perk known as “union time” in the new contracts. Township officials earlier this year claimed that the perk – used by PBA members to conduct union business – had been abused in years’ past.
A review by the Somerset County Prosecutor’s Office found no criminal or administrative violations of “union time” by members, but did note that record-keeping by administrators of that practice was lax.
Police officers and supervisory officers covered under the PBA contracts will receive 3 percent raises this year, 2 percent raises in 2020, 3 percent raises in 2021, 2 percent raises in 2022 and 3 percent raises in 2023, according to the memoranda of understanding that formed the basis for the contracts.
For police officers in the PBA with two years’ experience, the 2019 salary is $44,086. Officers at that step will receive $48,660 in 2023.
PBA members with 20 years’ experience – the top of the pay scale – will be paid $118,530 in 2019, with that increasing to $130,829 in 2023.
Under the terms of the PBA’s SOA contract, senior Sergeants hired after Feb. 10, 2015 will be paid $135,000 in 2019, increasing to $149,007 in 2023, according to the MOU.
Senior Lieutenants will be paid $153,643 this year, with their salary increasing to $169,585 by 2023, according to the MOU.
Sergeants hired aftwer Feb. 10, 2015 will be paid $128,000 this year, increasing to $141,281 in 2023.
Lieutenants will be paid $144,946 this year, increasing to $159,985 in 2023, according to the MOU.
Ptl. Mark Rossman, president of Local 154, thanked the Council for the action.
“We would like to thank the town Council and (Township Manager Robert) Vornlocker for working with the unions to reach an agreement that is fair and beneficial to both the town and the union,” he said.
FTPD Sgt. James Holzheimer Jr., president Local 154’s Supervisory Officers Association, also thanked the Council.
“I would like to thank both the Township Manager and the Township Council for settling a fair contract that is beneficial to both the township and our membership,” he said. “Settling this contract continues the long-standing positive relationship we’ve had with the town. We can now concentrate on moving forward with the town’s new initiatives.”
