Nahant Town Administrator Tony Barletta announced that the town has agreed to a three-year contract with the Police Department’s union.

The contract contains a 2% salary increase for the first year, a 2.5% increase for the second year, and another 2.5% increase for the third year. Barletta said that it also contains increases for items such as salary stipends, incentives, and detail rates in order for the town to remain competitive with other municipalities without sacrificing financial responsibility. He cited the expansion in salary differences between patrolman and sergeant, and between sergeant and lieutenant, from 10% to 11.5% as a priority of the town’s in the new contract.

“The constant theme in all of our meetings from the union, and felt across the table from our perspective too, was putting together a contract that was going to incentivize officers to work in Nahant and incentivize them to stay in Nahant,” Barletta said.

He expressed gratitude to the union for its cooperation during the negotiations and to the town’s finance director, Alison Nieto, for her contributions to the process.

“I think both parties are very happy with the final product,” Barletta said.

The new contract is effective from July 1, 2023 through June 30, 2026. Therefore, union members will be retroactively paid for the time that has elapsed since the start of the contract.

The Select Board voted unanimously to approve the contract at its meeting last Wednesday.

“We won’t need to revisit this again until 2026, so that’s certainly a weight off of everybody’s shoulders,” Board Chairman Mark Cullinan said. “I’m sure Alison was up many nights trying to get all the numbers correct.”

Selectman Gene Canty pointed out that in the contract, police officers are referred to as “officers,” “members,” and “employees.” Barletta assured him that the varying language would not affect any aspect of the contract.

Barletta said that the town’s police officers have done a good job adjusting to the changes in their line of work.

“Policing has changed a lot, with the police reform that passed a few years ago, updated policies and training requirements, and all of our officers have body cameras on them as well,” Barletta said. “Our officers have taken that in stride and done a phenomenal job adjusting to those things.”