Kodiak council to weigh 50% standby pay increase for police union

Kodiak police officers required to stay available outside their shifts would be paid three hours of straight-time pay instead of two under a one-year contract. The Kodiak City Council is scheduled to take up the agreement Thursday, Aug. 13, at its regular meeting, which begins at 6:30 p.m. in the Kodiak Public Library Multi-Purpose Room.

The agreement with the Public Safety Employees Association covers full-time police department employees, excluding the chief, lieutenant and administrative specialist. It would run from July 1, 2026, through June 30, 2027. Interim City Manager Tim Putney wrote in the agenda item report that "due to current staffing and the heavy reliance on standby, the compensation for this extra duty was increased from 2 hours of straight pay to 3 hours." Standby is defined as a 24-hour period. The union's bargaining materials frame the increase the same way, citing tight staffing. Putney's report states no additional appropriations are necessary to fund the agreement.

The contract also rewrites overtime language. It spells out that police and corrections employees can work a 14-day pay period under federal labor law, compared with seven days for dispatch and other city employees. It also changes shift differential pay to reflect hours actually worked.

Seven full-time police employees have reached the top of the pay scale and will get no raise this year. Each will still receive a one-time $500 payment on Jan. 1, 2027. The contract runs one year because the salary schedule was not increased. The union's first agreement, adopted in June 2024, ran two years.

The tentative agreement still needs ratification by union membership and approval from the City Council. The council will take public comment before voting Thursday.