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192088

Emergency Ordinance

*Authorize Letter of Agreement with the Portland Police Association to grant the Chief of Police authority to offer five sworn members a fourth year of service in the Retire Rehire Program

Passed

The City of Portland ordains.

Section 1. The Council finds:

  1. The City and the Portland Police Association (PPA) are parties to a collective bargaining agreement effective July 1, 2021 through June 30, 2026 (CBA).
  2. On May 16, 2024, the City Council authorized a Letter of Agreement (2024 LOA) amending the CBA to create an additional option (Option D) for sworn officers to participate in the Retire-Rehire Program (the Program). Under Option D, a participating employee has an initial one-year assignment, with the Chief of Police having the sole discretion to extend the assignment by up to two additional one-year periods for a maximum duration of three years in the program.
  3. Since the 2024 LOA created the Option D, five employees who were already participating in the Program under Option B, which has a maximum duration of two years, were permitted a one-time move to Option D (Former Option B Employees). This move extended their assignment for one additional year, but they remained subject to the maximum duration of three years total service in the Program.
  4. To mitigate staffing vacancies created when participating employees leave the Program at the conclusion of their assignment, the City and PPA have a mutual interest in permitting the Former Option B Employees to extend their assignment for one additional year, for a maximum duration of four years of service in the Program.
  5. The purpose of this agreement is to authorize the Chief of Police to extend the assignments of the Former Option B Employees so that they may serve a maximum duration of four years in the Program.

NOW, THEREFORE, the Council directs:

  1. The Director of the Bureau of Human Resources is authorized to enter into a Letter of Agreement between the City and the Portland Police Association in a form substantially similar to Exhibit A.
  2. This ordinance is binding City policy. 

Section 2. The Council declares an emergency exists in order to mitigate staffing vacancies and avoid a lapse in assignments for Portland Police Association sworn officers in the Program; therefore, this Ordinance shall be in full force and effect from and after its passage by the Council.


An ordinance when passed by the Council shall be signed by the Auditor. It shall be carefully filed and preserved in the custody of the Auditor (City Charter Chapter 2 Article 1 Section 2-122)

Passed by Council

Auditor of the City of Portland
Simone Rede

Impact Statement

Purpose of Proposed Legislation and Background Information

The purpose of this agreement is to authorize the Chief of Police to to offer five (5) sworn members a fourth year of service in the Retire Rehire program.
 

Financial and Budgetary Impacts

The Retire - Rehire program uses existing position authority and does not add new positions. The cost to continue these five members is approximately $350,000 which includes the cost to the City for OPSRP, IAP, and Social Security contributions. The Bureau intends to utilize existing and upcoming budgetary authority for this program.

Economic and Real Estate Development Impacts

Not applicable.

Community Impacts and Community Involvement

There was no community involvement. This action is largely internal to City government processes.

100% Renewable Goal

Not applicable.

Economic and Real Estate Development Analysis

Analysis provided by Prosper Portland

An Economic and Real Estate Development Impact Analysis was not submitted for this proposed action. Pursuant to City Council Resolution 37664, Prosper Portland staff has reviewed the action and agree that it does not require an Economic and Real Estate Development Impact Analysis.

Financial and Budget Analysis

Analysis provided by City Budget Office

This ordinance would authorize the Bureau of Human Resources Director to enter into a Letter of Agreement with the Portland Police Association that would allow the Chief of Police to extend the assignments of five sworn officers participating in the Retire-Rehire Program. Overall, this would be unlikely to add significant cost pressures in the Police Bureau. This is discussed further below:
 
The Retire-Rehire Program allows the Portland Police Bureau to rehire recently retired officers and other sworn staff. Rehired sworn staff are more costly to the bureau than sworn staff that have not retired because the Fire & Police Retirement & Disability Fund no longer provides reimbursements for retirement costs associated with the positions and participating staff typically have higher salaries than the average officer due to their tenure. The cost of a Retire-Rehire participant's straight time is similar - slightly lower - than the cost of mid-step sworn staffs overtime hours.
 
In the long-run, it is more cost effective to higher new staff than to rehire retired staff, however, mid-size and large police bureaus nationwide, including Portland, are having extreme difficulty maintaining staffing sworn staffing levels. Over the past 12 months, PPB sworn staffing has experienced 2 more separations than hires.
 
Due to current inelasticity of police hiring, without extending this program the bureau would lose 5 sworn staff, requiring the use of additional overtime hours to maintain service levels. This extension effectively allows the bureau to maintain service levels without shifting additional hours worked from straight time to overtime.

Document History

Document number: 2025-297

President's referral: City Council

Agenda Council action
Regular Agenda
City Council
Passed

Votes
  • Aye (12):
    • Koyama Lane
    • Morillo
    • Novick
    • Clark
    • Green
    • Zimmerman
    • Avalos
    • Dunphy
    • Smith
    • Kanal
    • Ryan
    • Pirtle-Guiney

Document number

2025-297

Introduced by

City department

Service area

Contact

AnnMarie Kevorkian Mattie

Labor Relations Coordinator

Agenda Type

Regular

Date and Time Information

Meeting Date
Amount of Time Requested
10 minutes
Portland Policy Document
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