City signs agreement with local FOP chapter

The City of Ponca City and the Ponca City FOP chapter signed a three-year collective bargaining agreement at Monday night’s City Commission meeting.

The contract was a late addition to the commission’s agenda and was unusual in two ways. The agreement was for three years, rather than one, and the FOP concluded its acceptance process earlier in the calendar year than usual.

The contract was signed by Mayor Homer Nicholson and FOP President Sgt. Jerry Hall. The agreement is retroactive to July 1 and extends to June 30, 2018. It provides for a 2 percent across-the-board increase for Captains, Lieutenants and Sergeants and a 1 percent increase for the other officer ranks for fiscal year 2015-16. For the additional years, the across-the-board increases will be the same percentages as provided by city commissioners to non-represented city employees.

There is an increase in required training hours to receive the educational pay for officers hired after July 1, 2015, as well as an increase in out-of-town meal expenses, to be the same as covered for non-represented City employees.

Police officers will pay the same bi-weekly insurance premiums that non-represented city employees pay.

The agreement includes a $400 signing bonus per police officer for each year of the contract, paid in an up-front lump sum.