Riverhead Town, police union agree on 4-year contract that will boost officers' pay 13.5% 

Riverhead approved a new contract with the town's police union that will boost wages by 13.5% and set new procedures for sick leave and other benefits over the next four years.

The town board voted 5-0 to accept the new agreement with the town’s Police Benevolent Association Tuesday. 

The agreement, dated July 25, includes 6% raises for police officers this year and 2.5% increases in 2024, 2025 and 2026. Those increases will also apply to the differential officers are paid for working certain shifts, including the midnight tour, according to an appendix attached to the agreement.

The contract is retroactive to Jan. 1.

“I think that they got a fair contract, a very generous contract,” Supervisor Yvette Aguiar said.

After the previous agreement ended in 2020, the town opted to extend it for two years amid the COVID-19 pandemic. That accounted for 2% increases each year.

In addition to the salary increases, the contract was amended to require employees to have 10 years of service to qualify for retiree health insurance benefits. It also amends the procedure for officers to request sick leave by removing a requirement that they immediately call a phone line after contacting the department. 

Additionally, requests for time off under the Family Medical and Leave Act or workers compensation must be emailed within 24 hours to the town's personnel department.

"Failure to do so will result in the denial of the use of accrued leave time to be paid for the absence, except where, in the Town's sole discretion, the Employee has provided sufficient proof,” the agreement says. 

Riverhead PBA president Charles Mauceri did not respond to a request for comment on the new agreement. The department currently employs 91 full-time officers.

Under the agreement, first-year officers' base salary will be $64,553.14 and increase to $69,516.67 over the course of the contract; the base salary for officers in their sixth year or higher will be $139,615.53 this year and increase to $150,350.66 in 2026.

Earlier this year, the town negotiated a new contract with the Civil Service Employees Association that included a 5% raise this year and 2% raises in 2024 and 2025. That deal also included a one-time supplemental payment of $1,500 for the more than 170 union employees.