After working six years without a pay raise, there's a deal on the table for Bakersfield police officers.
City Manager Alan Tandy says the city and the Bakersfield Police Officers Association have reached a contract agreement.
The agreement gives police pay hikes of six percent retroactively and going forward.
Tandy says that amounts to about $2.1 million in increased costs to the general fund this year.
He calls the added expense "modest" considering how long officers have gone without a raise.
The deal brings to a close a long and often bitter dispute between the city and the police union.
"It's been a product of an ailing economy and circumstances that were beyond anyone's control for a long time. But, anything that turns the corner and heads to a position direction is a good thing and so it appears it's going that way now even though it's been a tough road," said Tandy.
Tandy says the retroactive raises will reach back to the same year city firefighters were given their last pay hike.
The agreement will go before the city council for approval March 6th.
