HOLYOKE — As Police Chief Manny Febo prepares for retirement late next month, the city has signed a contract with his successor.

On Tuesday, the City Council received a copy of the three-year contract that then mayor Alex Morse signed in January with HPD Capt. David Pratt, who he tapped as the department’s next chief. Pratt, like Febo before him, will receive a $147,000 yearly salary as well as training pay, longevity and educational incentives, vacation buybacks and holiday differentials that will likely boost his pay above $200,000.

Pratt has been with the department since 1993, rising into the supervisory ranks in 1999 before becoming captain in 2011. He has been commander of operations, criminal investigations, budgets and grants, and led the Holyoke Public School’s school resource officer program. He has served as acting chief when Febo was absent.

The base salary that Pratt and the city agreed to is the same as what Febo received when he signed his first contract as chief in 2018.

Pratt’s contract, like Febo’s, also entitles him to incentives and other pay. Among those incentives is training pay —of which Pratt received $9,443 in calendar year 2020 when his base pay was $119,426 — and a longevity incentive of 4% of his base pay for having worked at the department for more than 25 years.

Pratt will also receive the educational incentive known as the Quinn Bill, which was enacted in 1970 but which the state stopped paying its half of in 2010. Some cities, like Holyoke, continue to pay those costs to those who received them in the past, like Pratt, who for earning a bachelor’s degree receives an extra 20% of the combined total of his base, longevity and training pay.

The city also agreed to buy back five accrued but unused vacation days from Pratt every year “in recognition of all the time demands placed on the Chief of Police.” Pratt will earn 35 vacation days annually, 10 of which can be carried over each year if they go unused. He will also be granted eight annual personal days.

Febo, who received the same pay structure, earned $213,117 in calendar year 2020, when factoring in vacation buybacks, holiday differentials and a $2,500 clothing allowance, according to city payroll records.

Unlike supervisors and patrol officers, the chief of police is ineligible to receive overtime pay. As a captain, Pratt earned the second most total overtime pay in the department in 2020, at $97,135, a recent Gazette analysis showed. Pratt made $264,650 in total earnings in 2020, making him Holyoke’s highest-paid employee.

Other perks Pratt will receive as police chief include an unmarked police vehicle for personal and professional use, tuition reimbursement for one evening college level course approved by the mayor and a $10,000 yearly budget for traveling to police chief conferences.

Whenever Pratt resigns, retires or returns to the position of captain, he will be paid out for all of his unused, accrued and accumulated leave, including all sick time. The contract notes that Pratt has currently accumulated 250 sick days, and that he can not accumulate more than those 250 days.

Pratt’s contract runs from Aug. 1, 2021, through Aug. 1, 2024.

On Tuesday evening, City Council members were not entirely sure what their obligations were in terms of approving the contract. Councilors sent the contract to the Finance Committee, and requested clarification from the city solicitor.

Pratt will take over for Febo, who will retire after three years as chief. When a city employee retires, their retirement annuity and pension are based off of an average of their three highest consecutive years of regular compensation if they began paying into the system before April 2, 2012.

Dusty Christensen can be reached at dchristensen@gazettenet.com.]]>