Talks between the city of Sioux Falls and the Fraternal Order of police over compensation for the next contract term in 2017 and 2018 have stalled over a difference in how much police officers should be paid.

Ninety Five percent of the FOP members voted to decline the latest offer from the city.  Attorney Tom Wilka representing the FOP says the amount being asked of the city to increase by is a small amount:

The difference between what the city has offered and what the FOP has requested over the whole contract is $400,000, total for all the officers for the entire contract.  That is a minuscule percentage of the city's budget.

Although city council makes the final approval once a successful negotiation is reached, Wilka says councillors are not returning calls, citing instructions from the city attorney.

If the two sides cannot reach an agreement, it is not legal for officers to strike.  The issue would move to a review from the Department of Labor to make recommendations.  Ultimately the city of Sioux Falls has the authority to impose a contract, however Wilka says that could bring other concerns:

...which we think is very bad for morale and would be very detrimental to the department's efforts in recruiting good people in the future. It doesn't make for very happy relationships between the management and the ground troops.

The FOP believes that City Finance Director Tracy Turbak and Mayor Mike Huether’s recent reports of a strong economy are not in line with an offer of an annual increase of 1.5 percent for Police Officers.  Wilka says the FOP continues to look for opportunities for further discussion.

We are still trying to get the city to reconsider and come back into negotiations. They stated previously they're not going to change their position and that they're dug in on it.  We hope that they reconsider so that we can continue to seek an amicable resolution of this and we're just not sure yet how they're going to respond to all of the publicity that's happened now.

Representatives of the city have stated that due to the potential for litigation, the City will have no further comment regarding these negotiations.


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