Police chief, captain get pay raises

POTTSTOWN >> Borough council unanimously granted raises to the police department’s top two leaders Monday night.

Police Chief Rick Drumheller will enjoy a $4,125 raise in 2017, raising his salary to $107,376 — a 4 percent increase.

Police Capt. Robert Thomas received a 3.5 percent salary hike, which works out to a raise of $3,259, bringing his salary to $96,526 for 2017.

In February, council approved a three-year contract with the police union, granting raises of 3.25 percent to the department’s 45 of-

ficers for 2017.

The addendums unanimously approved for Drumheller’s contact also

provide an increase in his uniform allowance from $1,000 to $1,500 per year and include the ability to work “special details” like the drug task force and DUI patrols at a rate of $51 per hour.

Those details are often

funded by grants, county or state funding and not local tax dollars.

The addendums approved for Thomas’s new contract include the addition of four personal days and a $500 payment if he does not use his sick days. Thomas is also not allowed to bank those days for later use or payment said solicitor Matthew

Hovey.

Also, Thomas will be permitted to work “special details” at a rate of $46 per hour. He will also be allowed to participate in the delayed retirement program known as DROP for four years instead of

the current three.

In December, 2015, the outgoing council also granted raises for 2016 to the two top officers of $4,300, or 4.4 percent, for Drumheller and $4,800 for Thomas, or 5.4 percent.