Amityville trustees, cops agree on contract

Amityville trustees Monday night extended most terms of the current police union contract through 2018, promising no layoffs and 2.5 percent yearly raises for the last four years of the contract.

In exchange, the union agreed to forgo raises in 2013 and to defer the annual $8,000 “night differential” owed each officer next year for night-time duty until the officers retire, spacing out what would have been a $208,000 obligation for the village. In subsequent years, night differentials will be paid in the year earned.

Trustees asked for the concessions this spring during what they called one of the most difficult budget seasons in recent memory.

The deal maintains the so-called “parity” principle, by which salaries for officers in the Amityville Police department mirror those for Suffolk County Police officers.

The contract had been scheduled to expire in 2013.