North Huntingdon OKs 3-year contract with police department's 29 officers

North Huntingdon police officers have a new three-year contract that will give officers a 5% pay raise in 2025, followed by two years of 4% pay raises in 2026 and 2027, according to the township.

The new contractwith the North Huntingdon Police Fraternal Relief Association covers 29 officers in the department, said Harry Faulk, township manager. Chief Robert Rizzo, who has led the department since September 2018, has a separate contract, Faulk said.

The new agreement replaces a four-year contract that expires at the end of the year.

Cpl. Carl Steinkopf, president of the police officers’ union, could not be reached for comment.

Faulk said money has been allocated in the 2025 budget to cover the costs of pay increases. In the 2024 budget, the township budgeted $3.3 million for salaries of the officers, excluding the police chief.

The starting wage for a new police officer is $84,624.43. The new language states that junior patrol officers will receive 90% of a senior officer pay, which is $94,027, Faulk said. They will reach the salary level of the senior patrol officer in four years, Faulk said.

That is a change from the existing contract, in which junior patrol officers received 70% of the senior officer’s pay for their first year, increasing annually to 100% in their fifth year of service.

Faulk said there are no changes to the work schedule for the officers. In the contract that expires at the end of the year, patrol officers work 12-hour shifts and 84 hours over two weeks.