Police ink new contract
Four-year deal includes 3 percent raises
The Limerick Board of Supervisors voted unanimously Feb. 20 to award a four-year contract to the township’s unionized police officers that provides a 3 percent raise in each year.
The previous contract expired on Dec. 31, and the raises are retroactive to Jan. 1, said Township Manager Dan Kerr.
The new contract will apply to 28 of the department’s 30 officers, but does not include the chief and lieutenant, who have separate contracts.
Beth F. DiPrete, Limerick’s assistant manager and treasurer, said over the course of the next four years, those raises will cost taxpayers an additional $358,000. She indicated that a starting patrol officer’s salary in 2018 is $69,483 and the top patrol officer’s salary in 2018 will be $97,008.
In a related vote, the supervisors also approved a request from the police union to extend the DROP early retirement incentive from two to three years. It was not immediately evident what, if any, financial impact results from that vote.
In other township business, the board also moved forward with the purchase of a 3-acre prop-
erty at 1310 Main St. near the Schuylkill River in the Linfield section of the township. It is adjacent to 16 acres of open space the township owns near the river but does not have access to, but now will as a result of the pending purchase.
Kerr said discussions to obtain the property have been going on intermittently for the past 10 years.
The cost of the property is $225,000 and will be paid out of the park capital fund, said Kerr.