As Newport works to finalize the last two years of a police union contract, city officials are proposing a 7% pay increase to boost recruitment and retention.
Newport City Manager John Hayden said in 2023, former Newport City Manager Tom Fromme negotiated a five-year deal with the Fraternal Order of Police Lodge #2. At the time, wages were negotiated for the first three years, and that left the city to now negotiate the final two years’ worth of wages.
“One of the concerns they brought to me was raising, among other things, the bottom-level salary and the recruit pay so that we can be competitive with the rest of the region,” Hayden said. “It’s very difficult to recruit new officers.”
The Fraternal Order of Police is the world’s largest organization of law enforcement officers, with over 377,000 members in more than 2,200 lodges. The nonprofit organization advocates for better working conditions, labor rights and legislation for officers.
The city held a first vote to approve a 7% increase for recruits through the ranks of sergeant.
“We feel like this is a very fair ask from them, and we also feel like this puts us in a very competitive environment to recruit more police officers as we go forward,” Hayden said.
Fraternal Order of Police Lodge #2 President Connor Bleser said the 7% increase will position the department competitively from the start.
“When you get to the middle end of the grades and the higher end of the grades, there’s no better place to be in Northern Kentucky than Newport, Kentucky,” Bleser said. “We want to get good candidates in here. That grade helps do that, and then the middle to later pay helps keep them here.”
When Bleser refers to “grade,” he is talking about the chain of command, from a uniformed officer starting at a “grade one” to the chief of police at the top at a “grade eight.” He said Newport’s pay starts to pull ahead in the region at grades five and six, which are the positions of captain and commander.
Bleser said there are four or five agencies in NKY that may start out with higher pay than Newport currently offers, but the 7% increase puts them closer to attracting those good recruits.
“The work that you do is among the most important work that happens in our city,” said Newport Mayor Tom Guidugli. “Safe communities are critical, and I appreciate the work that you all do.”
If approved at the second reading, the salary adjustments will increase personnel costs within the department for fiscal years 2026–2027 and 2027–2028. Funding will need to be incorporated into the annual operating budgets.
“I was pleased to hear the negotiations with the FOP went well, and that we can provide a generous cost-of-living increase for these important roles so we can stay competitive,” said Newport Commissioner Aaron Sutherland. “As the mayor noted earlier, safety is a top priority, not only for our city, but also for me-I think it’s one of the most important functions that our city government has.”
