Wasilla City Council postpones adoption of collective bargaining agreement with WPD

During the Wasilla City Council meeting held on August 25, members took up a resolution ratifying a three-year collective bargaining agreement between the City of Wasilla and the Wasilla Police Department Employees Association (WPDEA), for the period July 1, 2025 through June 30, 2028.

The 130-page tentative agreement reflects six months of comprehensive and collaborative negotiations. The tentative agreement covers both Wasilla Police Department (WPD) and dispatchers, as well as related support staff. As in the past, the primary issue faced by the departments remains the ability to recruit and retain qualified candidates for a growing community in order to address its public safety needs in fiscally sound manner.

According to the agreement summary, various concessions were made by the Union to support administrative efficiencies, improve the scheduling of WPD Officers and MATCOM employees, and permit flexibility for management to determine the needs of the Department and respond to public safety events.

Most notable in the tentative agreement are substantial wage increases to provide competitive salaries with similar-sized communities, and to close the wide gap between WPD and Anchorage Police Department (APD) wages, as a number of law enforcement personnel elect to commute to Anchorage while WPD positions remain unfilled.

The most significant financial changes in the tentative agreement include:

For FY26, a 3.96% increase, condensing the pay scale two steps the first year, advancement of one step; for FY27, a 4% increase, condensing the pay scale one step, advancement of one step; and FY28, a 4% increase, condensing the pay scale one step, advancement of one step.

WPD Officer Ryan Hellman, who serves as President of the WPD Police Association, testified during public testimony that the wages increase was significant but hoped that the council would see in context with other police departments they compete against, such as the APD and AST, and that would give WPD the ability to pay officers a good living wage.

The agreement also included an annual longevity pay to be paid to employees, beginning at 10 years of service to the city, and increasing at 15, and 20 years, as well as an increase of 2 hours per month in Paid Time Off accrual with 3 years of service to the City.

Hellman said one of the things he believes other departments get wrong is having hiring bonuses, saying that historically, they haven’t really worked. “So, take care of the people that are here, that are working, that are staying loyal.”

Hellman went on to tell the council that for nearly a year leading up to the negotiations, monthly meetings were set up between MATCOM and the WPD went extremely well, saying that four meetings were held to go over the entire contract and come to an agreement.

He went on to add that public safety is one of the main priorities the public expects their tax dollars to be utilized for, and he appreciated the team the city put together, applauding the communication they had with each other.

“We’re trying to partner with management in the city as best we can to come up with things that we think are unique, which will attract people.” He went on to say that he believes there are a few items that other departments in the state has. “One of those things is our Wellness Leave Program that we’ve come up with. The other is the Longevity Bonuses. The way we’ve got them structured will be really nice for some of the people that have been here.”

Before the public comment period opened, Chief William Rapson told the council that his experience working with a sheriff’s office in the lower 48 allowed him to see firsthand with a large department and with a county that had multiple departments that faced multiple challenges, including staffing, and some of the initiatives and actions taken not just there, but nationwide to address the shortage of officers.

Chief Rapson said that he used that experience, and those of the previous negotiations in 2022, that he says were “95% negotiated” served as his blueprint of how the WPD and City can work and move forward together. He also said another issue is the rapid growth taking place in Wasilla.

“I’ve said multiple times during our meetings that we’ve had updates that we know Wasilla is facing tremendous growth in this area…and we acknowledge that the Mat-Su Valley is the largest growing (Borough) in the state,” Chief Rapson said, adding, “I look at a department that must, you know, keep pace with the increasing demands of our residents, visitors, our businesses, our multiple businesses that are coming in our expanding neighborhoods. This agreement that you’re going to see tonight helps support the hiring and retention of skilled officers, dispatchers, call takers, and the support staff that we have to keep our community safe and well served.”

Of the pay increases, which the chief called significant, he said that it strengthens their ability to retain and hire skilled personnel, noting that the wages remain on the lower end of their competitors.

“Nonetheless, these improvements provide us with the resources to retain personnel that we need to have Wasilla continue to grow.”

The council then broke into an Executive Session for nearly two hours to discuss the tentative agreement. Upon convening the Executive Session, Council member Stu Graham moved to postpone adopting the resolution until the next regular council meeting, a move that fellow council member Ian Crafton supported, saying, “After some long discussion, we felt we just need a little bit more time to digest and come back before we make any final decisions.”

Council member Nikki Velock said that while the contract is a “big one” it is important to remember that they are not running the day-to-day business, but that they are looking at this from a monetary perspective. “What’s good for the city for money? We don’t do the day-to-day, so when you read through this, yes, there’s a lot there, but there’s a lot that doesn’t pertain to us. So, we’re not there to make the decision on is this a good contract…I want us to stay in our lane when it comes to contracts because we’re not negotiators, per se. Just look at the money, how it affects the budget, and do we think it’s worth it?”

“It’s going to be really interesting to see what happens,” said Mayor Glenda Ledford before adjourning the meeting.

The next meeting is scheduled for September 8, 2025 at 6:00 p.m. in the Wasilla City Council Chambers.