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APPROVAL OF THE UNREPRESENTED MANAGEMENT/CONFIDENTIAL AND LAW EMPLOYEES’ COMPENSATION PLAN AND THE MEMORANDUM OF UNDERSTANDING BETWEEN THE CITY OF STOCKTON AND THE STOCKTON POLICE MANAGEMENT ASSOCIATION
recommended action
RECOMMENDATION
It is recommended that the City Council adopt by resolution the Unrepresented Management / Confidential and Law Employees’ Compensation Plan and the successor Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) for the Stockton Police Management Association effective July 1, 2026 through June 30, 2028.
It is further recommended that the City Manager be authorized to take all appropriate and necessary actions to carry out the purpose and intent of the resolution, including implementation and funding of the compensation plan and successor MOU.
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Summary
The proposed Unrepresented Employee Compensation Plan establishes compensation and benefit provisions for employees who are not represented by a recognized bargaining unit. The proposed plan includes cleanup language and adjustments to salary ranges and benefit provisions based on organizational needs, and the City’s total compensation philosophy. The plan will remain in effect until amended or superseded by subsequent action of the City Council.
In March 2026, City representatives began negotiations with the Stockton Police Management Association (SPMA) for a successor MOU, as the contract was set to expire on June 30, 2026. Following a series of bargaining sessions, the City and SPMA successfully reached an agreement on the terms of a successor MOU. The proposed successor MOU includes a two-year term and provides for cost-of-living and market salary adjustments, the addition of salary steps to the bargaining unit salary schedule, and increased City contributions toward health insurance premiums.
The Unrepresented Compensation Plan and successor MOU for SPMA is intended to ensure that the City maintains a competitive compensation structure that supports the recruitment and retention of qualified employees while promoting internal equity and fiscal responsibility.
DISCUSSION
Background
Unrepresented employees serve in key leadership, management, confidential, and professional roles throughout the organization and are not covered by a memorandum of understanding. The City Council is responsible for establishing compensation and benefits for these positions. The City periodically reviews compensation for unrepresented employees to ensure alignment with labor market conditions, maintain internal equity, and support the City's ability to attract and retain a highly qualified workforce. Staff conducted a review of the existing compensation plan, including an assessment of current salary structures, market competitiveness, and the compensation provisions for represented employee groups.
The SPMA represents management employees within the Police Department. In 2025, the City entered into a one (1) year contract term with SPMA. Under this agreement bargaining unit members received a two percent (2%) cost of living adjustment (COLA) effective September 1, 2025, a lump sum payment equal to two percent (2%) COLA from July 1, 2025 through August 31, 2025, and a two percent (2%) increase to the City’s health contribution. Additionally, the City entered into a side letter agreement with SPMA that offers Longevity Pay, effective September 1, 2025 through March 31, 2034, of various percentages for employees with five (5), ten (10), fifteen (15), and twenty (20) years of paid service.
Present Situation
The relevant amendments under the Unrepresented Compensation Plan are summarized as follows:
1. Wage increases for Miscellaneous Employees consisting of a 2% Cost of Living Adjustment (COLA) and 1.5% Market Adjustment effective July 1, 2026, a 2% COLA effective July 1, 2027, and a 2% COLA effective July 1, 2028 (Unrep. Plan Section 13.1).
2. Wage increases for Safety Employees totaling a 2% COLA and 4% Market Adjustment effective July 1, 2026 and a 2% COLA effective July 1, 2027 (Unrep. Plan Section 13.2).
3. Salary Step Plan. Adds salary steps 7, 8, and 9 to the salary schedule with 2.5% between each added step (Unrep. Plan Section 13.3).
4. City Health Contribution. 4% increase to the City’s health insurance premium contribution effective January 1, 2027, 2% increase effective January 1, 2028, and 2% increase effective January 1, 2029 (Unrep. Plan Section 4.1).
5. Uniform Allowance. An increase to the uniform annual allowance for specified classifications from $1,200 to $1,600 and from $1,000 to $1,400. Additionally, converts the allowance from an annual payment to per pay period amounts (Unrep. Plan Section 13.10).
6. Vacation Sellback provision allows a vacation cash payment option/sell-back of up to one hundred and twenty (120) hours of vacation each calendar year (Unrep. Plan Section 6).
7. Vacation Accrual. Converts vacation accrual amounts from annual to per pay period amounts. This change reflects how vacation accruals are earned (Unrep. Plan Section 6).
8. Holidays. Converts the Cesar Chavez and the Birthday holidays into two floating holidays that can be used throughout the calendar year. Upon separation, any accrued and unused floating holiday hours will be cashed out at the employee’s current straight rate of pay. Additionally, it changes “Columbus Day” to “Indigenous Peoples Day” (Unrep. Plan Section 5).
9. Longevity Pay for Unrepresented Police and Fire Safety personnel consistent with the Stockton Police Management Association and the Stockton Firefighters’ Local 456 Fire Management. Provides longevity pay at various percentages for employees with at least five (5), ten (10), fifteen (15), and twenty (20) years of paid service (Unrep. Plan Section 9).
10. Certificate Incentive Pay for Sworn. Deletes the incentive for Police sworn personnel who hold a P.O.S.T. Supervisory certificate. Adds, that Fire Chiefs and Deputy Fire Chiefs will receive eleven percent (11%) of top salary step in rank for obtaining and maintaining a California Fire Officer 3 (FO3) or Chief Fire Officer certification (Unrep. Plan Section 13.11).
11. Management Time Leave. Allows for applicable classifications to cash out management time leave at any time or have any remaining time paid out at the end of the fiscal year in June. Adds the Fire and Deputy Fire Chiefs as eligible classifications (Unrep. Plan Section 10.4).
12. Compensatory Time Off (CTO). Adds that employees cannot carry over more than one hundred (100) hours of CTO at any time. Language is memorializing current Payroll practices (Unrep. Plan Section 14.4).
13. Elimination of language that is duplicative, obsolete, or already governed by City policies or applicable federal and state laws for: non-discrimination, sick leave, bereavement leave, bi-weekly pay period, and “Y” rate. These provisions remain fully enforceable and applicable to unrepresented employees regardless of whether they are specifically referenced in the compensation plan.
14. Rates of Pay. Defines the different rates of pay for payroll purposes (Unrep. Plan Appendix A).
The same salary ranges and benefit provisions afforded to the miscellaneous unrepresented employees will be applicable to the unrepresented Council appointed positions of City Manager, City Attorney, and City Clerk. Additionally, the salary ranges for these positions will increase by the same percentage points as the Salary Step Plan for the miscellaneous unrepresented employees of 7.7%.
The relevant amendments under the successor MOU for SPMA are summarized as follows:
1. MOU contract term for two (2) years effective July 1, 2026, through June 30, 2028 (SPMA MOU Section 19)
2. COLA increases to base pay totaling 2% effective the first full pay period following City Council Adoption of Agreement or June 28, 2026 (whichever is later) and an additional 2% COLA effective June 27, 2027 (SPMA MOU Section 15).
3. Market Adjustment increases to base pay of 2% effective the first full pay period following City Council Adoption of Agreement or June 28, 2026 (whichever is later) and an additional 2% effective June 27, 2027 (SPMA MOU Section 15).
4. Salary Step Plan. Adds salary steps 7, 8, and 9 to the salary schedule with 2.5% between each added step. Offers advancement in steps for eligible employees (SPMA MOU Section 15).
5. City Health Contribution. 4% increase to the City’s health insurance premium contribution effective January 1, 2027, and a 2% increase effective January 1, 2028 (SPMA MOU Section 14.1).
The proposed compensation plan has been reviewed by the Administrative Services Department to ensure consistency with the City's compensation strategy and available budget appropriations.
FINANCIAL SUMMARY
COLA ADJUSTMENT
The impact of a 3.5% base wage increase in FY27 with a 2% adjustment in FY28, and a 2% increase in FY29 for Miscellaneous employees is shown in the table below. Additionally, the table reflects a 6% base wage increase in FY27 and a 2% adjustment in FY28 for safety employees. First-year costs are approximately $1.8 million, with an additional $1.1 million in FY28, and $657,044 in FY29.
SALARY TABLE ADJUSTMENTS
An additional three steps have also been added to the salary schedule for each bargaining group. The impact of this change is $494,622 in FY27, with increased costs of $1.2 million in FY28, and $1.1 million in FY29.
VACATION SELL BACK
The provisions of the agreement allow for the sell back of earned vacation hours. The following table reflects that impact.
HEALTH CARE CONTRIBUTION
The City will increase its health care contribution by 4% in FY27 with an additional 2% contribution increase in FY28. Costs for FY27 are estimated at $160,288, with similar costs of $162,722 in FY28, and additional costs of $143,167 in FY29.
UNIFORM ALLOWANCE
The cost for uniforms was increased by $400 per safety member. Total cost will be $3,200 annually.
LONGEVITY PAY
Longevity pay will be provided to safety employees consistent with other public safety employee groups based on five, ten, fifteen, or twenty years of service.
TOTAL COSTS
The total cost of this proposal is approximately $3.2 million in FY27, increasing by $3.3 million in FY28 and $2.5 million in FY29.
Funding from the Known Contingency Reserve has been earmarked to cover this cost.
Attachment A - Unrep Management/Confidential and Law Employees’ Comp Plan - Redline
Attachment B - SPMA MOU - Redline
Attachment C - UNREP SPMA Costing Table