City of Menlo Park 701 Laurel St., Menlo Park, CA 94025 tel 650-330-6600 menlopark.gov City Council
REGULAR MEETING AGENDA
Date: 5/27/2025
Time: 6:00 p.m.
Location: Zoom.us/join – ID# 832 1285 7140
City Council Chambers
751 Laurel St., Menlo Park, CA 94025
EARLY STAFF REPORT RELEASE NOTICE
Pursuant to the requirements of City Council Procedure #CC-11-0001, the following staff report is being released 15 days in advance of the City Council meeting:
Consider and adopt a resolution to approve the successor agreement between the City of Menlo Park and the Menlo Park Police Sergeants’ Association expiring Oct. 31, 2027 (Staff Report #25-075-CC) This notice is posted in accordance with Government Code §§54954.2(a) or 54956. Members of the public can view electronic agendas and staff reports by accessing the city website at menlopark.gov/agendas and can receive notifications of agenda postings by subscribing at menlopark.gov/subscribe. Agendas and staff reports may also be obtained by contacting the City Clerk’s Office at 650-330-6620. (Posted 5/12/2025)
Administrative Services
City of Menlo Park 701 Laurel St., Menlo Park, CA 94025 tel 650-330-6600 menlopark.gov
STAFF REPORT
City Council
Meeting Date: 5/27/2025
Staff Report Number: 25-075-CC
Regular Business: Consider and adopt a resolution to approve the successor agreement between the City of Menlo
Park and the Menlo Park Police Sergeants’
Association expiring Oct. 31, 2027
Recommendation
Adopt a resolution to approve the successor agreement between the City of Menlo Park and the Menlo Park Police Sergeants’ Association (PSA) expiring Oct. 31, 2027 (Attachment A).
Policy Issues
City Council retains sole authority to enter into a memoranda of understanding (MOU) with recognized labor units. Negotiations related to MOUs are governed by the Meyers-Milias-Brown Act (MMBA), Government Code §3500 et seq. MMBA requires that local agencies meet and confer in good faith regarding wages, hours, and other terms and conditions of employment with representatives of recognized collective bargaining units. MMBA further requires that the City fully consider proposals made by collective bargaining unit representatives before determining policy or course of action.
Background
The City Council held its initial hearing to receive public input before launching negotiations with the PSA Jan. 14. After the public input hearing, City Council appointed Charles Sakai of Sloan Sakai Yeung & Wong LLP to serve as the City’s chief negotiator. Mr. Sakai received direction to negotiate the successor MOU with the PSA and successor negotiations, which commenced in February 2025. The Parties met both on and off-the-record and resolved matters by joint recommendation in April 2025.
The existing PSA MOU contains a salary provision that requires a minimum base pay differential of 15% between top step police corporal and top step police sergeant. In effect, this means that the PSA receives a wage increase commensurate to that negotiated with the Menlo Park Police Officers’ Association (POA). City Council previously approved an appropriation of $68,906 for the corresponding wage increases for the PSA as part of the salary schedule amendment approved Aug. 27, 2024 (Attachment B).
Analysis
Service to the community requires a skilled workforce that is committed to providing the level of public safety, customer service, and responsiveness expected by the City Council, residents, businesses, and other community sectors in Menlo Park. The PSA is comprised of supervisory level personnel, representing the classification of Police Sergeant with 9 budgeted full-time equivalents (FTEs) in PSA in fiscal year 2024-
25. Staff Report #: 25-075-CC
City of Menlo Park 701 Laurel St., Menlo Park, CA 94025 tel 650-330-6600 menlopark.gov This report summarizes the joint recommendation negotiated in good faith with PSA representatives. PSA ratified the tentative agreement on or about April 29. While the Parties’ joint recommendation conforms to the authority provided to Mr. Sakai, the final action requires City Council approval at a public meeting. Table 1 summarizes the tentative agreement terms with financial impacts. A redline version incorporating these terms into the current MOU will be transmitted for City Council adoption at least 72 hours in advance of its May 27 meeting (Exhibit A of Attachment A).
Table 1: Tentative agreement items with financial impact to City Item Description Cost / (savings)
Term The tentative agreement provides for a two-year and fourmonth term beginning July 1, 2025, and ending Oct. 31, 2027. Given that negotiation of a successor agreement is not required for fiscal years 2025-26 and 2026-27, the City is estimated to save approximately $30,000 per year, which reflects legal costs and internal staff time required to support negotiations. ($60,000)
Pay rates –
Overtime
The tentative agreement adds clarifying language on the existing practice of how overtime is calculated, consistent with language in the POA agreement.
No-cost item.
Pay rates –
Market-based
adjustments
The tentative agreement includes market-based
adjustments tied to the current POA agreement (Sept. 1, 2024 – Aug. 31, 2027).
• Effective the first full pay period in February 2025 (i.e., Feb. 9, 2025), the City added a new salary step to the
salary schedule for the classification of Police
Sergeant. The new salary step was set 5% above the
existing Step E. Immediately upon the establishment of
the new salary step, the existing Step A was deleted
and salary steps were renamed A-E.
No additional cost. This
formalizes an adjustment that
occurred in February 2025 to
retain the set salary differential
with the POA.
Special pay –
Longevity pay
adjustments
The tentative agreement includes a modification to the
existing longevity pay provision to recognize continuous service time as a full-time sworn police officer, rather than recognizing only the years of service with the City, to help attract lateral police employees, align with the POA
agreement, and encourage promotions. Additionally, the
existing longevity pay tiers are being adjusted to further incentivize employee retention.
Effective the first full pay period following Sept. 1, 2025, sergeants who have at least one year of service as a fulltime sworn police employee with the City will be credited with 0.5 years of service for every one year of service as an 830.1 Peace Officer for any other California agency. The Staff Report #: 25-075-CC
City of Menlo Park 701 Laurel St., Menlo Park, CA 94025 tel 650-330-6600 menlopark.gov Table 1: Tentative agreement items with financial impact to City Item Description Cost / (savings)
longevity pay tiers will be as follows:
• 3% upon completing seven years of service
• 5% upon completing 11 years of service
• 8% upon completing 15 years of service
• 10% upon completing 20 years of service $92,925
Special pay –
Education
incentive
PSA members currently receive special pay for obtaining a Peace Officer Standards and Training (POST) intermediate certificate (5%) or advanced certificate (10%) to incentivize continuous learning, meeting professional standards,
preparing for career advancement, and ultimately
improving public safety with specialized skills and
knowledge.
The tentative agreement adds an incentive for POST
supervisory certificate (11.5%) effective the first full pay period following Sept. 1, 2026. The POST supervisory
certificate requires completion of a minimum of 60
semester units from an accredited college or university or possession of an accredited degree; completion of the
POST supervisory course; possession of or eligibility to possess the POST intermediate certificate; and a minimum of two years of law enforcement experience at the
supervisor level or higher.
These incentives are not additive and employees are only entitled to the highest level of POST certificate pay
completed. $18,926
Indirect costs
tied to
employee
wages
These costs include the corresponding increase to the
normal CalPERS contribution, other City-provided benefits and special pays that are tied to wages (i.e., life insurance, long-term disability insurance, accidental death and
dismemberment insurance, Medicare and workers’
compensation).
$29,453
Employee
retirement cost
share
The City and PSA previously entered into a cost-sharing agreement whereby CalPERS Tier 3 – PEPRA members
contribute the greater of half of the normal cost or 12%.
This equates to a minor additional cost to the employee and an added administrative burden to the City.
Additionally, the employee retirement cost share was
reduced in 2023 and then eliminated in July 2024 for other employee groups. The tentative agreement includes the
following adjustments to the employee retirement cost
The PSA bargaining unit does
not currently have any PEPRA
members. In addition, the cost of
increasing the City’s contribution
to the full CalPERS employer
rate would be offset by savings
in staff time spent calculating the
rate difference.
Staff Report #: 25-075-CC
City of Menlo Park 701 Laurel St., Menlo Park, CA 94025 tel 650-330-6600 menlopark.gov Table 1: Tentative agreement items with financial impact to City Item Description Cost / (savings)
share, aligning with the POA MOU:
• Effective the first full pay period following July 1, 2025, the cost share shall end and PEPRA members will
contribute half the normal cost as calculated by
CalPERS on an annual basis.
Flexible
benefits plan
contribution
The tentative agreement includes the current contribution rates for 2025 plus an across the board increase in flexible benefits plan contribution based on the annual Consumer Price Index (CPI) for the San Francisco Bay Area:
• 2026 – Incorporates a 2.7% CPI increase
• 2027 – CPI increase between 2-4%
$14,285
Call back pay The tentative agreement amends the existing call back pay provision to be consistent with language in the POA
agreement, including adding language for off-duty court appearances.
Call back pay varies each year
and is not budgeted for
separately.
Bereavement
leave
The tentative agreement allows employees to take up to
two additional days off per instance of bereavement for eligible family members using the employee’s eligible leave banks. This is being updated to comply with new State law.
No-cost item.
MOU language
cleanup
The parties agree to cleanup additional language in the MOU for added clarity and standardization and to comply with CalPERS or legal requirements.
No-cost item.
Total Year 1
Year 2, incremental
Year 3, incremental
Two-year and four-month contract term total
$45,700
$80,630
$29,259
$155,589
The tentative agreement provides nearly two and half years of stability and known increases for PSA across all areas of wages and benefits. The economic package outlined above balances the need for fiscal sustainability with the goal of recruiting and retaining top talent in service to the community. One measure of fiscal sustainability is the relationship between the tentative agreement’s economic package and inflation as measured by the Consumers Price Index, All Urban Consumers (CPI-U), for the San Francisco area. The San Francisco Area CPI as of February 2025 showed an increase of 2.7% as compared to February 2024.
Another measure of fiscal sustainability is the relationship between the tentative agreement and the amounts budgeted in the fiscal year 2024-25 budget and General Fund five-year forecast. These items include 3% placeholder wage increases and 4% increases to benefit costs, taking into consideration increasing costs for employee pension and inflationary assumptions for non-salary items.
The terms of the successor agreement are an important component of recruiting and retaining quality police employees. Competition for top talent is significant. Providing a compensation package that improves the City’s market position and provides incentives for longevity and promoting within the City supports recruitment and retention of our highly qualified and experienced staff.
Staff Report #: 25-075-CC
City of Menlo Park 701 Laurel St., Menlo Park, CA 94025 tel 650-330-6600 menlopark.gov Impact on City Resources
The average annual cost of this two-year and four-month agreement is approximately $66,681 Staff will incorporate these wage and benefit adjustments into the fiscal year 2025-26 budget that is anticipated to be adopted June 24.
Environmental Review
This action is not a project within the meaning of the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) Guidelines §§15378 and 15061(b)(3) as it will not result in any direct or indirect physical change in the environment.
Public Notice
Public notification was achieved by posting the report 15 days prior to the City Council meeting of May 12.
The redline version of the MOU (Exhibit A of Attachment A) will be posted at least 72 hours prior to May 27.
Attachments
A. Resolution to adopt the successor MOU with PSA (July 1, 2025 – Oct. 31, 2027) B. Hyperlink – Aug. 22, 2024 SR #24-146-CC: menlopark.gov/files/sharedassets/public/v/1/agendas-andminutes/city-council/2024-meetings/agendas/20240827/h4-20240827-cc-salary-schedule-amend.pdf Report prepared by:
Charla Freckmann, Human Resources Manager
Brittany Mello, Administrative Services Director
RESOLUTION NO. XXXX
RESOLUTION OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF MENLO PARK
APPROVING AND ADOPTING THE COMPREHENSIVE MEMORANDUM OF
UNDERSTANDING WITH MENLO PARK POLICE SERGEANTS’
ASSOCIATION WITH A TERM OF JULY 1, 2025 THROUGH OCTOBER 31, 2027
WHEREAS, the City of Menlo Park received a report on expiring labor agreements Jan. 14 in accordance with City Council’s policy on Public Input and Outreach Regarding Labor Negotiations; and
WHEREAS, the memorandum of understanding (“MOU”) between the City of Menlo Park (“City”) and the Menlo Park Police Sergeants’ Association (“PSA”) expires June 30; and WHEREAS, Negotiators for the City and PSA began the meet and confer process in February, and met both on and off-the-record and resolved matters by tentative agreement in April; and WHEREAS, City and the PSA have met and conferred in good faith and have agreed to the attached comprehensive successor MOU (Exhibit A); and
WHEREAS, the PSA bargaining unit ratified the tentative agreement on or about April 29; and WHEREAS, the terms of the successor MOU make changes to the wages, the CalPERS employee cost sharing agreement, flexible benefit plan contributions, various cleanup language regarding noneconomic terms, and has a term July 1, 2025, to Oct. 31, 2027.
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED, by the Menlo Park City Council that:
1. City approves the tentative agreement with PSA for a successor MOU with a term of July 1, 2025, through Oct. 31, 2027, as set forth in Exhibit A attached and incorporated by reference; and
2. City Council directs that all relevant additional costs related to implementation of the successor MOU be incorporated into the proposed fiscal year 2025-26 budget; and
3. City Council authorizes the city manager or their designee to execute the successor MOU; and
4. City manager may approve formatting edits to the successor MOU. //
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ATTACHMENT A
I, Judi A. Herren, City Clerk of Menlo Park, do hereby certify that the above and foregoing City Council Resolution was duly and regularly passed and adopted at a meeting by said City Council on the twenty-seventh day of May, 2025, by the following votes:
AYES:
NOES:
ABSENT:
ABSTAIN:
IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand and affixed the Official Seal of said City on this __ day of May, 2025.
Judi A. Herren, City Clerk
Exhibit:
A. Successor Memorandum of Understanding
Resolution No. XXXX
Exhibit A will be available on or before May 24.
Resolution No. XXXX
EXHIBIT A