WEST SACRAMENTO, CA (MPG) – The West Sacramento City Council unanimously approved a three-year successor Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between the city and the West Sacramento Police Officers Association (WSPOA).

As part of the agreement, the City Council also approved an updated salary schedule, benefits summary and a resolution adopting amendments to the city’s budget for fiscal year 2024/2025 to fund the proposed changes.

According to a staff report on the memorandum of understanding presented at the April 30 meeting, the agreement is “specifically designed to foster recruitment and retention through increasing competitiveness of compensation.” The Police Department expects to hire 13 officers over the next several years, thanks to voter passage of Measure O last November.

The measure is slated to raise $20 million through enacting a 1-cent sales tax that will be used on public safety, road maintenance, parks and trails, and issues with homelessness.

“It’s the largest (13 officers) that’s happened in the last 20 years or since the inception of the city since it was conceived and we’re excited for that,” West Sacramento Police Officers Association President Sgt. Robert Brazier said.

Referring to the memorandum of understanding, West Sacramento Mayor Martha Guerrero said, “The raise is to make sure we get experienced officers. It’s to make sure we retain experienced officers.”

Effective the first pay period after City Council passage, Police Department employees receive a general salary increase of 6% as well as “various equity increases for certain positions.” Effective Jan. 1, 2026, employees receive a 3% increase and effective Jan. 1, 2027, they receive a 4% increase.

Beginning this year, all sworn employees receive a one-time, non-PERSable (Public Employee Retirement System) lump sum payment of $2,700. Sworn employees will receive a similar payment in 2026 equal to 1% of their annual base salary and another one-time lump-sum payment in 2027 of $4,000.

Civilian employees receive a one-time, lump-sum PERSable payment in 2025 of $1,750, 1% of annual base pay in payment in 2026 and $1,750 in 2027.

The memorandum of understanding also makes changes to the salary ranges for sworn classifications. There are eight steps per position with an approximately 2.5% pay increase between each step. According to the salary schedule included with the memorandum of understanding and resolution, a police officer minimum monthly salary (Step A) would be $8,294, followed by Step B at $8,501 and culminating in Step H at $9,859.

The annual minimum salary would amount to $99,528, maximizing at $118,308 with a minimum hourly rate of $47.85 and a maximum of about $56.88.

The memorandum of understanding also realigns the longevity pay of 10%, providing for 5% after 10 years, and an additional 2.5% after 12 and 15 years. Employees receive increases in their medical/dental/vision benefits over the three-years of the agreement while the $1,200 monthly cap on retiree medical contributions for employees “who substantially retire and were hired between July 1, 2014, and June 30, 2018” is removed.

According to the staff report, approval of the memorandum of understanding with the West Sacramento Police Officers Association results in an increase of $418,381 to the fiscal year 2024/2025 budget, the largest impact being to the General Fund of $389,586. Total General Fund one-time costs over the three-year period are $615,826 and the ongoing annual cost to the fund is estimated at $2.6 million.

“This contract and previous years have spoken very highly about where we’re going as a community as a whole,” Brazier said.

Vice-Mayor Verna Sulpizio Hull said that during the campaign for Measure O, she and Brazier “talked a lot” to voters about the need to improve Police Department pay and benefits in order to make West Sacramento a “destination” department for officers and personnel.

“Tonight, we’re taking a big step in making that decision a reality,” Hull added.

During council discussion, Guerrero noted the juxtaposition of the contract approval and an incident earlier in the day in which a West Sacramento boy was shot and killed in Summerfield Park off Linden Road. A suspect has been arrested in the incident.