Lake in the Hills Village Board set to vote Thursday night on new police contract

Lake in the Hills police officers will see 4% raises this year if the Village Board approves a new contract with the police union, the Metropolitan Alliance of Police Chapter 90, about eight months after the previous contract ended.

The police union’s previous contract expired at the end of April, according to Lake in the Hills records.

Among the largest changes between the contracts is the pay increase. Officers are slated to get 4% cost-of-living raises this year, retroactive to the end of the last contract, plus 3.25% raises starting May 1 and 3% raises effective May 1, 2026.

The starting salary for an officer this year is about $68,100. That officer will earn about $76,300 next year and about $84,800 in the final year of the contract.

Officers who have been at the maximum pay in their position for at least a year will receive a 1% increase to their base salary each year starting after their ninth anniversary in lieu of the $1,500 longevity bonus they got under the old contract.

The raises under the old contract were 2.5% annually, according to Lake in the Hills records. That contract was approved in June 2021 but was retroactive to May 1, 2021.

With the new contract, officers also will have an additional $200 for their uniform allowance, which is $900 in the new contract, up from $700. The increase is expected to cost Lake in the Hills an additional $6,200 per year, according to village records.

Another change in the contract includes how the grievance process will work going forward.

In the new deal before the Village Board, if an officer is suspended for less than 16 unpaid hours, the officer can only appeal up to the chief of police, according to the contract. The exception is if the officer had another suspension within the past 12 months.

If an officer has been suspended for more than 16 hours or is terminated, they can appeal to either the police commission or opt for arbitration.

Oral and written reprimands are not subject to the grievance process. Officers in the probationary period, which is 12 months, also are not eligible to use the grievance process, according to the contract.

The police union was not available for comment Wednesday.

The union already has signed off on the contract, but Lake in the Hills village officials are slated to take up the issue Thursday evening. The Village Board will meet at 7:30 p.m. Thursday at Village Hall, 600 Harvest Gate.

The new contract is slated to run through April 2027.