The Auburn City Council voted unanimously to approve police, firefighter and assistant fire chief contracts before the previous contracts expired, a stark difference from previous rounds of contract negotiations in 2013, which dragged on into the next year.
The council approved five-year contracts for all three parties during Thursday night's city council meeting, which will go into effect July 1, 2017. Each contract included salary raises for the employees, offset by health insurance cost decreases for the city.
City manager Jeff Dygert said five-year contracts "give the city stability" when it comes to planning the city budget each year.