LINCOLN- A three-year contract was unanimously approved by the Lincoln City Council that makes Lincoln officers the highest paid in the state.

Council members supported the contract, which will cost the city $3.2 million this year and $5 million in the second year of the biennial budget, saying public safety is a priority.

Beginning Aug. 18, starting pay for officers will increase 8% and for sergeants by 10%. That means officers’ starting pay goes from $28.55 an hour to $30.83. Starting pay for sergeants goes from $37.06 an hour to $40.77.

Annual salaries for officers will range from $64,128 to $90,646 and for sergeants from $84,793 to $107,369.

Next year officers will get a 6.5% increase and sergeants a 4.5% increase. Pay for both officers and sergeants will increase 3% in 2024.

Police Chief Teresa Ewins said the department already is recruiting, and high wages help.

“This is about competitiveness,” Ewins told the council. “We’re competing nationally for people to be police officers. We need contracts like this to get the best.”

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