Kettering City Council Tuesday night voted 5-0 to grant the increases after City Manager Mark Schwieterman said a third party was involved to reach a deal with the Fraternal Order of Police Kettering Lodge 92.
“We recently completed mediation sessions with our patrol bargaining unit and came to an agreement that is very similar to the agreements we reached with other bargaining units this year,” Schwieterman said.
The union agreement calls for raises of 2.5%, 2.5% and 2.25% each year for the life of the contract, he added.
That deal “is consistent with a tentative agreement reached by the bargaining teams,” city records state. Three years ago contract talks between the city and Lodge 92 involved a fact-finder’s report before settling on a contract that expired in February, records show.
An August Dayton Daily News analysis of public payrolls found the city of Kettering paid 155 employees more than $100,000 in 2020.
Kettering pays its police officers and firefighters more than other departments in the region and its firefighters are among the top paid in the state, the DDN found.
The Kettering Police Department paid 68 employees more than $100,000 last year. This is more than any other local department, including Dayton and the Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office.
Kettering Mayor Don Patterson has said it has been a longstanding practice for the city to go through collective bargaining talks and later provide its non-union workers with similar increases, he added.
Among the highest paid Kettering employees for 2020, records show, were: Law Director Ted Hamer, $158,119; Assistant City Manager Steve Bergstresser, $157,712; Parks and Recreation Director Mary Beth O’Dell, $144,188; and Finance Director Nancy Gregory, $143,943.
Schwieterman topped the list at $211,634.
In May, the council approved 50% pay hikes for future Kettering mayors and city council members.
The approved pay increase changed the annual salary for future mayors from $12,000 to $18,000 and the pay for future council members from $8,000 to $12,000.
At-large Councilwoman Jacque Fisher is the only current member eligible to seek re-election. She abstained from the vote.
