PALM BEACH COUNTY, Fla. — The City of Delray Beach and the Palm Beach County Police Benevolent Association (PBCPBA) are at odds over a future contract agreement for the Delray Beach Police Department.
It's an issue that's split the sides since June when negotiations began.
"It's a no brainer, pay the men and women. That's all we're asking for," said John Kazanjian, the President of the PBCPBA.
WATCH: What's stopping Delray Beach Police from getting paid more money?
The contract expired in September and last week the PBCPBA declared an impasse over the negotiations.
"You have the men or women over there working without a contract. You're not looking at any raises, no protections, things like that because there's no contract," said Kazanjian.
Both sides agree officers need to get paid more so why did the city deny the PBA's proposal?
Mayor Tom Carney said the issue is the expansion proposal to DPBD's Deferred Retirement Option Program known as DROP.
Carney said if approved, this extension would allow senior officers to collect their full salaries while simultaneously receiving at least 70% of that salary in retirement benefits, for eight additional years.
The city tells WPTV that DPBD currently has 19 officers in the DROP program.
"This isn't about paying police officers more, it isn't even about trying to train them more, it's about trying to get the senior echelon to essentially line their pockets more," said Carney.
Carney said the expansion could cost taxpayers over a half million in payouts per officer on top of their regular paycheck.
He released the following statement disputing allegations made by the PBA that the city commission is "defunding their own police force":
- An officer earning $100,000 per year would continue collecting their full salary for eight extra years while also banking at least $70,000 per year in retirement benefits.
- That results in a minimum of $560,000 in extra payouts per officer, on top of their full salary.
- The true cost is even higher, as our HR Department has confirmed these estimates are conservative."
"We're not trying to defund the police, they're trying to defund Delray Beach," said Carney. "I think most people understand that's expensive."
WPTV asked Kazanjian about the cost, and he said the reason it falls on taxpayers is because of a lowered milliage rate that the city approved last year.
"If he would've kept the millage he would've had the money," said Kazanjian.
He's now looking into starting a petition to recall the commissioners that approved the rate change and have also opposed the contract proposal.
"Just because of their fiscal responsibility, take them out of office now before they do more hurt in Delray," said Kazanjian. "I hate being in this battle with them but you know what, I don't know any other way to do it."
WPTV's Joel Lopez covered the approval last year.
At the meeting, the chief of police, interim fire chief, public works and parks and recreation heads spoke up about how the millage rate could impact their budgets.
WATCH PREVIOUS COVERAGE: Delray Beach commissioners vote 3-2 to approve new millage rate
"Why go from 5 years to 8 years ultimately?" asked WPTV's Joel Lopez about the 3-year proposed increase to DROP benefits.
"Because you retain police officers longer, experienced," said Kazanjian.
He said it's not uncommon for a police department to have the DROP program and that the city and taxpayers would actually save through the DROP program, because the city doesn't have to pay into the pension program for those officers.
Kazanjian said Delray Beach has been losing officers due to low wages and by increasing the benefits of their DROP program it would retain veteran officers without having to pay to train new officers.
Kazanjian said the department has been losing officers "in droves."
The city provided the following stats on Delray Beach Police staffing:
The Delray Beach Police Department currently has 160 sworn employees and 30 of them make less than $65,000 a year.
- 130 make between $67,300 – $198,300 a year
- Public safety accounts for 92% of the 50 highest paid employees in Delray Beach.
The city said the department is not seeing a mass exodus from their police force, and that they have a normal amount of attrition when compared to other cities in South Florida.
Since they started negotiations in June through February, city numbers show 2 officers retired, 3 were dismissed and 8 officers resigned.
The city said some of the officers did in fact leave to go to different departments but did not have a number on how many. Others moved to different cities or changed careers.
Carny worries that the expansion of DROP benefits will cause the department to lose lower ranking officers due to lack of advancement opportunities.
Kazanjian agrees it will limit higher position opportunities.
Both sides agreed the officers need to get paid more but disputed how much.
The city said it started paying for an entry level officer with a bachelor's degree is $63,500.
Kazanjian confirmed that number but said that it only applies to 10% of the officers and that the salary is $61,000 for the 90% of officers without a bachelor's degree.
The city’s offer to the PBA included a 14% increase to salaries over 3 years, which the PBA denied.
"We wanted to get the salaries up at least into the 70s where everybody else is," said Kazanjian.
Starting pay for departments neighboring Delray Beach:
West Palm Beach Police Dept: $73,710
Boynton Beach Police Dept: $56,825
Boca Raton Police Dept: $87,000
Carney argues while DBPD isn't at the top of the list, the officers do have access to amenities including a Wellness Center.
"The police the department can walk in get medical care, they don't pay for their medicines, they don't pay for any of the treatment,
said Carney. "There's no deductible, everything is paid for. I don't know if anyone is paying attention to medical costs theses days but that's a big benefit."
Kazanjian is raising alarm that the impasse could put public safety at risk as there have already been 2 violent crimes in Delray Beach so far this year.
That's the same number of homicides that the city had in the entirety of 2024.
The city said despite the fact, violent crimes in the city have been on the decline over the last 29 years.
Kazanjian said now both sides will agree to a special master which is similar to an arbitrator that will hear the case from the city and the PBA.
Then the special master will issue a non-binding recommendation for a contract that could still be denied by one of the parties.
That process could leave officers of the DBPD without a contract for over a year.
