Kodiak moves to bump standby pay for police as staffing runs tight

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 City Council takes up Thursday. The meeting begins at 6:30 pm in the Kodiak Public Library Multi-Purpose Room.

The agreement with the Public Safety Employees Association covers full-time police department employees, minus the chief, lieutenant and administrative specialist. Interim City Manager Tim Putney wrote 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." The union frames it the same way, citing tight staffing. Putney says no new appropriations are needed to fund it.

The contract also rewrites overtime and shift-differential language to reflect hours actually worked.

Seven full-time police employees have already topped out on the pay scale and won't get a raise this year, though each will get a one-time $500 payment. The contract runs just one year because the salary schedule wasn't increased; the union's first agreement, from 2024, ran two.

The agreement still needs ratification by union members and council approval. The council will take public comment before voting.