Buena Park : City Employees Win New Pact and Raise

After five months of negotiations, Buena Park’s 300 employees have new contracts that include a 4.5% pay raise.

City firefighters, police and other employees had been working without a contract since the old one expired June 30, city Personnel Director Tom Kirchner said. The City Council approved the raise and a small increase in dental benefits earlier this week.

The 18-month contract is retroactive to July 1, Kirchner said.

Next January, city officials plan to survey other cities and see whether Buena Park salaries are on par with salaries of employees in other county cities, Kirchner said. If the survey finds discrepancies, city officials will make the appropriate pay adjustments, he added.

For the city’s 60 or so police officers, the pay increase translates to a maximum of $2,497 per month--compared to the current monthly paycheck of $2,387, Kirchner said. For a maintenance worker, the salary raise means maximum earnings of $1,909 per month instead of the current $1,825, he said.