Rehoboth Beach commissioners agree to new police contract

With an eye toward attracting new recruits, Rehoboth Beach commissioners and the city’s police union have agreed to a new three-year contract that bumps beginning pay for new hires 25%.

The existing agreement expires March 31. The new one begins April 1 and runs through March 31, 2028. Commissioners voted in favor of the contract during a meeting Feb. 21.

During the meeting, Chief Keith Banks was asked if the new salary scale put Rehoboth on the same level as the state police.

Banks said it did not. State police officers can quickly make more than $100,000 per year, but this does allow Rehoboth to compete with the other local law enforcement agencies, he said.

“We were not [competing]. We are now,” said Banks.

City Manager Taylour Tedder said the new starting salary places Rehoboth just above the Lewes Police Department.

Highlighted changes to the agreement include: 1% increase between years of service, plus a 4% annual cost-of-living increase in years two and three of the contract; clarifies the testing requirements for the rank of sergeant; aligns the drug and alcohol policy with the city's current drug and alcohol policy; clarifies how extra-duty assignments are assigned; aligns the bereavement leave policy with the city's policy; removes the requirements for a police officer to substitute in the dispatch center; 100% employee and 80% dependent health insurance premium covered by the city.

The timing of the new contract aligns with the city’s fiscal year, which also runs April 1 to March 31. The city is going through the budget process now. At the first budget workshop Jan. 17, Tedder presented information on how the new contract will affect the budget – the total budget will increase $1.36 million, with salaries representing $623,000 of that increase.

Not included in the contract, but also being discussed as part of the city’s budget for the next fiscal year, is a vehicle take-home policy. According to Tedder’s presentation, that policy would add $278,000 to the city’s vehicle lease program budget to accommodate about a dozen new vehicles.

During the second budget meeting Feb. 10, Banks said an officer will have to be with the department for about two-and-a-half years before they will be able to participate in the take-home program. However, the majority of the officers in Rehoboth have been with the city a while, he said.

Banks said Rehoboth is the only municipality in Sussex County, and one of three in the state, that doesn’t have a vehicle take-home program for its officers.