City of Cortland Common Council Authorizes Collective Bargaining Agreements With Police and Fire Unions – Contracts Good For 5 Years

The City of Cortland Common Council voted to authorize Cortland Mayor Scott Steve to execute collective bargaining agreements with the Cortland Police Benevolent Association and the Cortland Professional Firefighters’ Association, IAAF Local 2737. Each agreement will go into effect on January 1st, 2026 through December 31, 2030.

Representatives from both unions each separately negotiated with the City of Cortland leading to an agreement in the collective bargaining.

Under the agreement with the Police Benevolent Association (PBA), members of the union will receive in the first year a market rate adjustment of their salaries to align with the neighboring departments. For each year in the remaining agreement, salaries will increase by 3%. The agreement also includes the switch in healthcare from Excellus BlueCross BlueShields Classic Blue Plan to the Bronze Plan with a city funded HRA that’ll cover in and out of network out of pocket max. It will also include an MOU regarding School Resource Officers and Canine Officers.

Under the agreement with the Cortland Professional Firefighters’ Association, IAAF Local 2737, wages for union members will increase by 3% each year from years 1 through 5. It will also include a switch over of healthcare coverage by the city from the Classic Blue Plan to the Bronze Plan with the city also funding HRA in and out of network out of pocket maxes. The agreement also comes with the removal for a Municipal Training Officers from a Captain position within the bargaining unit to a management Battalion Chief position, along with corresponding reduction of 1 Caption and an increase of 1 firefighter.

Further details on both collective bargaining agreements can be found online at CortlandNY.gov.