The city of Fresno has negotiated labor peace with its police force and city management.

On a 7-0 vote Monday at a special meeting, the city council approved two-year contracts each with the Fresno Police Officers Association for the non-management unit, the FPOA management unit, and the City of Fresno Management Employees Association.

The FPOA non-management deal calls for a 3% raise as of today, with another 1% increase by Dec. 29 depending on city property and sales tax revenues. Another 1% increase activates June 15, 2026.

“Anytime you can lock into a Fresno Police Officers Association contract early on is a good thing,” Mayor Jerry Dyer said.

The contract will cost the city $10.5 million in raises for the two years.

Union, Dyer Satisfied

“We’re glad to have a contract but we’re still dealing with a lot of challenges in the agency,” Sgt. Jeff LaBlue, FPOA president said.

LaBlue said the department is holding 74 vacancies, with 100 vehicles furloughed.

“We’re constantly dealing with different challenges from day-to-day, but crime is at a relative low. The police officers are doing their best to maintain the mission and take care of this community,” LaBlue said.

The city council passed a budget last month after Dyer’s administration closed a $50 million gap. Dyer said these negotiations were “different” than those in past years.

“The labor unions recognize we’re facing different fiscal challenges today than we have in the last four years. We’ve had increased revenues over the last four years, both from sales tax and property tax as well as outside revenues, special revenues, and they know that those funding opportunities have dwindled,” Dyer said.

The city’s budget realities played a factor with the FPOA.

“We kept the ask real reasonable because we went into this contract negotiation understanding that the city had a shortfall before they were able to ratify the budget. We were appropriate but we were moderate in the way that we approached it. Going forward, we’re hoping that the city recovers and we can maintain competitiveness with the other law enforcement agencies,” LaBlue said.

The city negotiated similar deals in the other two contracts.

The FPOA management unit will cost the city $790,161 in raises over the two years.

Meanwhile, the CFMEA pact includes a potential 0.5% or 1% raise on Dec. 28, 2026, depending on tax goals. The contract will cost the city $2,195,991 in raises.

Nine Contracts Remain

Dyer said tying raises to tax metrics ensures the city has the funds available.

“If, in fact, we achieve a certain increase in sales tax and property tax, we want to share that with the employees,” Dyer said.

Dyer said he was thankful for “reasonable” requests from FPOA and CFMEA in negotiations. The city is still negotiating with nine other bargaining units, including fire.

The city is offering remaining units two-year contracts, with additional raises based on the tax contingency.

Dyer hopes to resolve the remaining contracts within 90 days.

“The sooner that those groups sign off on the deals, the faster they’ll get their money because we’re not offering retroactive pay,” Dyer said.