The city of Philadelphia recently announced the details of a new, three-year police contract which will be followed through June 30, 2024. It includes annual raises of 2.75 percent in the first year of the contract and 3.5 percent in each of the following two years. Although it passed, arbitrator Shannon Farmer attached a dissenting opinion to the Sept. 14 contract, saying Philadelphia cannot afford the raises, projected to cost $271.8 million in added costs over the city’s official fiscal five-year plan which runs 2022-2026. “The wage increases under this award are inappropriate in light of the city’s financial condition,” Farmer wrote in the opinion. “The city faces significant long-term and short-term challenges due to the impact of the pandemic, as well as its significant long-term and structural challenges, and every city employee and bargaining unit—including the (Fraternal Order of Police)—should receive wage increases that reflect those difficult economic realities.” …