METHUEN, Mass. — The City of Methuen and the Methuen Police Superior Officers Association signed their memorandum of understanding Wednesday to lower the big pay raises for ranking officers.
Under the memorandum, Methuen’s five police captains will receive raises of about 20 percent for Fiscal Year 2019, which started July 1st.
MORE: Methuen's police captains could become nation's highest paid officers
Here is a breakdown of revised FY2019 captain salaries:
If the city had been forced to honor the contracts in full, the average overall salary increase for superior officers would have been nearly double, according to an analysis done by the city auditor.
As Boston 25 News first reported in June, each of the city's five police captains were set to earn $434,841 a year, on average, according to an analysis done by the city auditor. That pay would have made the captains the highest paid officers in the state and possibly the country.
The city and union reached the compromise on the contracts last week after multiple formal and informal meetings.
Under the memorandum, obtained by Boston 25 News on Wednesday, the average overall increase for superior officers would be 18.72 percent this year and about 5.09 percent next year, the final two years of the three-year contracts.
Paul Fahey, chief of staff to Mayor James Jajuga, took part in the negotiations on Jajuga's behalf because the mayor's son is a Methuen Police captain.
Methuen’s City Council still needs to vote on the memorandum. Fahey told Boston 25 News the council meets tomorrow.
The memorandum states if the positions and salaries agreed upon are not fully funded, the agreement is null and void.
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