For the third time in the last four attempts to reach a contract agreement with its police officers, the city of Longview once again is heading to binding arbitration. “We just couldn’t find any middle ground,” said City Manager Bob Gregory.

The three-year contract’s sticking points are wages and benefits, said Longview Police Guild representatives and city officials, who declined to provide specifics. Contract negotiations began last summer.

The big question is how much of a pay increase the arbitrator will grant the union members, considering the current state of the economy.

“It’s kind of like playing poker sometimes,” Gregory said Wednesday. “I have to believe that this current economic recession is different from any economic downturns I’ve seen in my time in the city, and I just can’t help but think that’s going to be taken into consideration when we go to arbitration.”

Longview Police Sgt. Ed Jones, president of the 56-member guild, said the union has been “fairly pleased” with the outcome of past arbitration, even though it didn’t win on every point.

As a possible sign of the times, the city is the party that left the bargaining table and declared an impasse during the latest contract talks. In the past, it’s been the guild that requested binding arbitration, Jones said.

The economy’s downward spiral prompted the guild to scale back its requests “significantly,” but apparently not enough to satisfy the city, Jones said.

“I’m sure it’s just the economy,” he said. “There’s no disputing the fact that the economy is in the tank.”

During informal discussions, Gregory said, the city asked the guild how it felt about a wage freeze. Guild representatives made it clear they wouldn’t support it, and it was too late for the city to formally bring it up at the bargaining table, Gregory said.

The arbitration process likely will take several months because both parties must agree on the choice of arbitrator, a neutral third party who will make binding contract decisions. Robbie Berg, the city’s human resources director, said she expects a contract decision will be made by the end of this year.

Binding arbitration for the guild’s contract for 2006-2008 wasn’t settled until March 2008, just 10 months before it expired. That means the guild had been working for two extra years under the terms of its 2003 contract. As soon as the last contract was settled last spring, the city paid $501,000 to police guild members for back wages and benefits for 2006, 2007 and two months of 2008, Berg said.

In 2008, police department expenditures represented 32 percent of the city’s general fund, according to Longview Finance Director Kurt Sacha.

The city’s current contracts with employee unions are posted online at www.mylongview.com. Click on Your Government and select City Departments, then Human Resources. Select “contracts” from the menu on the left.

Police guild contract history

2000: Binding arbitration. Arbitrator’s decision issued in October 2001.

2003: Contract settled without arbitration.

2006: Binding arbitration. Arbitrator’s decision issued in early 2008 (police had been working under expired contract for more than two years).

2009: Binding arbitration process begins in February.

2000 arbitration decision

• Officers get 3 percent raise in 2000. (Guild asked for 4 percent. City offered 2.1 percent*)

• 3.65 percent raise in 2001. (Guild asked for 4 percent. City offered 2.9 percent*)

• 3.4 percent raise in 2002. (Guild asked for 3.4 percent. City offered 2.9 percent*)

• City pays 90 percent of total insurance premiums.

* Equivalent to 85 percent of the Portland CPI-W.

2003 negotiated agreement

• Officers get 2 percent raise in 2004

• 2 percent raise in 2005

• Officers with at least 10 years on the force get an extra 2 percent raise each year of contract

• Officers with 20 or more years on the force get an extra 4 percent raise each year of contract

• City pays 90 percent of total insurance premiums. Officers agreed to pay half of any increased cost of health insurance if that increase exceeded 10 percent.

2006 arbitration decision

• Officers get 3.53 percent raise in 2006. (Guild asked for 6 percent. City offered 3.04 percent*)

• 4.12 percent raise in 2007. (Guild asked for 6 percent. City offered 3.4 percent*)

• 4.36 percent raise in 2008. (Guild asked for 3.3 percent. City offered 2.8 percent*)

• Extra 2 percent raise for 10-19 years of service and 4 percent raise for 19+ years of service each of the two years.

• Employees with a bachelor’s degree receive an extra 4 percent of their annual base salary

• Employees whose jobs require them to communicate in Spanish receive an additional $75 a month

• City pays 90 percent of total insurance premiums. Officers agreed to pay half of any increased cost of health insurance if that increase exceeded 10 percent.

* Note: For each year of the three-year contract, the city proposed a cost-of-living raise equal to 85 percent of the Portland CPI-W, and for 2006, an additional 1 percent.

Salaries and benefits

Patrol officer base salary range for 2008: $54,888 to $67,452

Patrol officer with at least 19 years on the force and a bachelor’s degree: $72,848

Sergeant base salary for 2008: $77,940

Sergeant with at least 19 years on the force and a bachelor’s degree: $84,175

Medical/dental insurance: City pays 90 percent of premiums for employees and their dependents, and employees pay 10 percent. In 2008, the city’s monthly insurance contribution per employee was $1,124. Employees paid $103.

What is binding arbitration?

In Washington, public safety and transit employees don’t have the right to strike because that could cripple a community. If they cannot reach a contract agreement even after calling in a mediator, the union and the governing body ask a neutral third party — an arbitrator — to settle the contract for them. Both parties must accept the arbitrator’s decision.

To help decide wages, benefits and other contract terms, the arbitrator looks at comparable cities that have, for instance, similar populations, assessed valuations and revenue. The cities selected for comparison is a frequent source of dispute between the parties.

What is the Portland CPI-W?

The Portland Consumer Price Index (for wages) is a number based on a consumer goods such as housing prices, the cost of groceries and fuel. The number represents how inflation is translated into costs for the consumer. The city of Longview typically offers annual pay raises amounting to 85 percent of the Portland CPI-W.