Vero Beach police officers overwhelmingly rejected a new contract in which the city offered a 15-percent pay raise – 5 percent annually over the next three years.
According to sources familiar with the labor negotiations, 84 percent of the Vero Beach Police Officers Association Local 6019’s membership, which includes rank-and-file officers up to and including sergeants, voted last week to turn down the city’s offer.
The starting salary for a Vero Beach police officer currently is just over $50,500 per year. The police officers received 5-percent pay raises each of the last two years, City Manager Monte Falls said, adding, “If they had taken this deal, they would’ve received 5-percent raises five years in a row.”…