A magistrate sided mostly with the police union in its dispute with Delray Beach over a new contract.
After hearing testimony during a May 14 hearing, Thomas Young recommended that the city agree to the union’s demand to extend from five years to eight years the period when officers can participate in the Deferred Retirement Option Program (DROP). It’s one of two financial issues that divide the city and the union, which declared an impasse in February.
The other issue is wages. Here again, Young said the union has made a “compelling case” for higher salaries. Notably, Young said Mayor Tom Carney had presented a “false narrative” when making the city’s response.
Carney has criticized the union for, as he sees it, letting a few senior officers set terms most favorable to them and not letting the membership vote on the city’s offer. Carney and Commissioners Juli Casale and Thomas Markert have argued that the priority should be attracting new officers.
In fact, Young said, the city’s Jan. 15 offer “kept officers in the bottom three” of 18 agencies surveyed. “Throughout bargaining,” Young wrote-, “the city was never concerned about starting pay or officer attrition.”
Instead, Young agreed with Commissioner Rob Long, who has blamed the dispute on the budget that Carney, Casale and Markert demanded in 2024 after their election. This fiscal year would have been the first under a new, three-year police contract. The budget reduced the tax rate and thus revenue.
As a result, Young said, Carney, Casale and Markert hamstrung the city in its negotiations with the union. In addition, Young said, the city did not bargain in good faith.
In April, Young said, the union’s “final proposal” for the first year of the contract matched that of the city. “Much to the [union’s] surprise,” Young said, the city then made a new proposal the same day. “Miraculously,” Young said, “the city did have room” in the first year for higher pay, “despite its assertions to the contrary.”
As the union examined the proposal, though, “it quickly became apparent that it was nothing more than a reverse ‘Ponzi Scheme.’ ‘’ More money for junior officers came from giving less money to senior officers.
Young called the city’s April proposal “a divide-and-conquer strategy to pit the bargaining unit members against each other [newer vs. older] but under the guise of the city’s new interest in raising starting pay.” Short-term, Young added, the proposal helps young officers. Over the three years of the contract, though, it would create “a very large disparity in pay.”
Basically, Young concluded, the commission majority made a political decision—the tax rate—that influenced how the city approached the contract negotiations. Young notes that the city’s proposal actually would make Delray Beach less competitive compared to the union’s offer.
Young called the city’s proposal “all the more frustrating” when compared to the fire department contract. “There is no ‘reverse Ponzi Scheme’ … but rather just fair and consistent application of the wage increase.” He recommended that the city accept the union’s wage position.
Young did rule for the city on two management rights issues. Delray Beach, he said, should be able to administer psychological evaluations of officers, provided there is “clear justification.” He also ruled for the city on drug testing.
Commissioners and the city’s labor attorneys will meet next Thursday to discuss the magistrate’s recommendation. If they don’t accept them, they could impose their own terms. Those terms, though, would apply only through the rest of the budget year, which ends Sept. 30. Negotiations then would restart. Presumably, officers would keep leaving.
Delray Beach property tax rate to increase next year
The tax rate that Young said led to the contract dispute will go up next year.
After nearly two hours of often meandering discussion Tuesday, Casale, Long and Markert directed City Manager Terrence Moore to prepare a budget based on a rate of $6.16 per $1,000 of assessed value. That would be an increase from the current rate of $5.90.
Moore had to plead for that direction after it appeared that the meeting might end with no decision. This was the final budget workshop meeting, and there’s a tight schedule between now and the two required public hearings in September before the fiscal year begins Oct. 1. Yet Carney had taken up much of the time arguing to keep the current rate and maintaining that there is “plenty of room” for more cuts and new revenue.
Chief Financial Officer Henry Dachowitz, however, said the staff is “running out of time” and that ideas such as raising parking rates need “more analysis.” He also rebutted some of Carney’s assumptions.
Example: The mayor claimed that the city could raise money by asking employees to pay more for their health insurance. Dachowitz noted that Delray Beach had done a study showing that salaries were lower than in neighboring cities.
Example: Carney wants to cut city sponsorship of special events. The St. Patrick’s Day Parade, he said, costs $75,000 and used to be privately funded. Dachowitz responded that the benefits from the event’s popularity “far exceed the cost saving.”
After joining Carney a year ago to approve what Long called a “reckless” budget, Casale and Markert broke with the mayor. When Moore asked, “Please, offer me your expectations,” those three said they preferred something between the two highest of four scenarios, which topped out at $6.26. The average homeowner would pay roughly $115 more.
Even that top rate, Long noted, would be lower than the rate for the 2023-24 fiscal year and much lower than the rate of nearly $7 in 2017. Because of the current rate, he added, Delray Beach hasn’t just lost officers because of the failure to approve a police contract. The city also has had to delay roadwork.
Based on that tax rate, Moore will present a proposed budget to the commission at Tuesday’s meeting.
Delray fails to win All-America City award
Delray Beach did not win its fourth All-America City award this year. Though the city was a finalist, it lost out to Akron, Ohio, and Seattle, among others. Two Florida cities—Port St. Lucie and Tallahassee—were among the 10 that received recognition from the National Civic League.
Rankings for local elementary schools
Only one traditional public school in Boca Raton has a state grade lower than A.
That school is J.C. Mitchell Elementary, which retained its B for the 2024-25 academic year. The state released the new scores this week.
A year ago, Boca Raton Elementary was the only other city school to get lower than an A. That grade, however, has improved to an A. Boca Raton and J.C. Mitchell elementaries serve a disproportionate number of lower-income students in an otherwise affluent city.
Almost every other school in and around the city has received A’s for many years. Olympic Heights High School got an aberrant B two years ago but has been A-rated every other year. Even if those grades reflect the city’s comparative wealth and the presence of involved parents, Boca Raton officials use the rankings as a marketing tool.
In Delray Beach, the encouraging story is Pine Grove Elementary, which in three years has gone from a C to an A. The discouraging story is Spady Elementary, which dropped from an A last year to a C this year. It got a B the previous two years. Banyan Creek Elementary also improved from a B to an A.
Otherwise, it was status quo. Atlantic High School stayed at B, Plumosa Elementary stayed at A, Orchard View Elementary stayed at B and Carver Middle—the only one in Delray Beach—stayed at C. Morikami Park Elementary, which is just outside the city limits, got its usual A.
Overall, Palm Beach County got an A grade. The state requires that 95% of all district students take the tests on which the grades are based. Interestingly, to get an A, high schools and middle schools must get 64% of the available points. Elementary schools must get 62%.
