TROY – The City Council voted 8-0 at its November meeting to approve a new contract with the city’s largest police union, which represents officers and sergeants.

The new contract is the first agreement between the PBA and the city since the previous contract expired at the end of 2012. The new contract runs through Dec. 31, 2017 when the parties will have to negotiate a new deal.

Mayor Patrick Madden praised “the bipartisan approval of this important agreement.”

Council members put aside objections to a contract clause that allows disgraced former Officer Brian Gross to receive lifetime health insurance coverage. Gross retired when he pleaded guilty in June 2015 to divulging evidence secured by eavesdropping to its intended target and official misconduct, both misdemeanors. Gross revealed information about undercover drug operations by the State Police in the city. Gross was covered by a side agreement that permitted officers with at least ten years of service to health insurance when they retired.

The approved contract all officers in the first five pay steps 2.01 percent raises. Officers in step six will receive a 13.85 percent pay or $8,188 raise to $67,288 and sergeants will receive an 11.3 percent raise or $7,887 to $77,288.

Officers who retired during the past five years will receive $1,000 for each year they've been retired. Officers also must work for the city police department for at least 12 years before they qualify for health insurance when they retire.

Officer Nick Laviano, the PBA president, said the new contract makes the city competitive with other police departments in the Capital Region. He said the department may hire up to eight new officers in January. He said officers from other departments are inquiring about transferring to the Troy department. The city has lost officers to other departments as its pay rates lagged behind.

Laviano said the PBA expects to begin a new round of contract talks with the city early next year.

The contract also allows the city to pay PBA members every two weeks; increases co-payments for prescriptions, emergency room use, office visits and outpatient surgery; limits new officers to 18 days of sick pay during the first 18 months of service; sets up detective weekend on-call pay at $400; allows the city to install a time clock system; and calls for negotiating a policy to deal with sick leave abuse.

The PBA has the only current contract with the city. As of Jan. 1, 2018, all of the contracts will again be expired. The state Comptroller’s Office advised the city in its recent review of the 2018 proposed budget that the municipality must take new contracts into account. The other unions in the city are Command Officers Association of Troy, Uniformed Fire Chiefs Association, Civil Service Employees Association, United Public Service Employees Union and the Troy Uniformed Firefighters Association.