Surprise: Fort Lauderdale police union leader got 59% raise in January. City leaders only finding out now.

Union leaders typically negotiate raises for the rank and file that become public knowledge.

But in January, two high-ranking officials with the Fort Lauderdale police union got significant pay bumps, and not even the chief knew about it.

The out-of-the-ordinary raises, done outside the union contract, only recently came to light, city officials say.

Here are the details: Union President Scott Moseley got a 59% raise. His salary jumped from $112,923 to $179,524 — on par with the maximum salary a captain with the Fort Lauderdale Police Department can earn.

Scott Hoffer, the police union’s vice president, got a 34% raise. Hoffer’s salary rose from $112,923 to $151,548 — equal to the maximum salary earned by a lieutenant with the department.

The raises were neither approved by the union’s members nor the City Commission as normally required, Acting City Manager Susan Grant told the South Florida Sun Sentinel.

On Aug. 30, Grant rescinded both raises on grounds they did not adhere to the union’s collective bargaining agreement . Grant is conducting a fact-finding inquiry to determine whether to claw back the money.

“The two union leaders are officers covered by the collective bargaining agreement,” Grant said. “They were both at the maximum pay for a law enforcement officer. If we had a memo of understanding that provided that the city manager had the discretion to make those changes, then it would have been legit. But there was no memo of understanding. We recognize there is a process to go through and it was not followed.”

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Grant says she only learned of the raises a couple of weeks ago after a public records request was submitted inquiring about them. She informed the entire commission in one-on-one conversations on Aug. 30, the same day she reversed the raises.

Together, they amount to more than $105,000 for one year alone.

The raises were granted by then-City Manager Greg Chavarria without the knowledge of the Fort Lauderdale commission or Police Chief Bill Schultz , city officials say.

Chavarria, who announced his resignation in April and departed in May, told the Sun Sentinel he gave Mosely and Hoffer substantial pay hikes so they’d be on par with the salary paid to the city’s fire union president.

“I was simply trying to keep parity between the police and fire union,” Chavarria said.

Scott Bayne, president of the fire union, earns a captain’s salary, Chavarria told the Sun Sentinel.

That is true, Bayne told the Sun Sentinel. But that’s only because he happens to be a fire captain, he said.

Moseley is not a police captain and Hoffer is not a police lieutenant. Both are officers who have not yet received promotions.

A YouTube video about the raises surfaced last week, but has since been taken down.

Hoffer could not be reached for comment.

Moseley sent a text to the Sun Sentinel saying the raises were transparent.

“In January 2024, the (union) reached an agreement with the city to transfer the responsibility of funding a salary supplement, previously covered by our membership, to the city,” he wrote. “This supplement has been successfully in effect since February without any issues. The creation of leadership supplements and the subsequent transfer of these costs were carried out transparently.”

The Sun Sentinel sent a response asking whether the raise was ratified by union members and approved by the commission. And if not, how were union members and police management told? Moseley’s response: “Ha Ha.”

In a Jan. 11 memo sent to the city’s Human Resources director, Chavarria explained his reason for the raises: “Police union presidents should receive the same compensation as the highest bargaining unit members and face similar issues as command staff at the executive level. The police union president is responsible for representing the interests of the union members. Suppose they are compensated at a level comparable to the highest bargaining unit members. In that case, it enhances their ability to understand and advocate effectively for the concerns and needs of the rank-and-file officers.”

City Attorney Tom Ansbro said Chavarria did not run the plan by him.

“He never came to me about it,” Ansbro said.

Fort Lauderdale could end up clawing back the money, said Bob Jarvis, a law professor at Nova Southeastern University.

“It’s very problematic for the city manager to interfere with salaries set by union contract and hand them out to selective people,” Jarvis said. “Usually a union contract is clear on salaries and how much of a raise you can get. It would seem the city would claw back the money.”

Mayor Dean Trantalis said he only found out about the raises after getting a call from Grant a few days ago.

“It’s currently being investigated by the acting city manager,” he said.

Commissioner John Herbst said he also was told about the raises just days ago.

“We should have a thorough investigation that brings all the facts back to us,” Herbst said. “This merits an investigation. I think everybody deserves an answer. The taxpayers, the union members and the commission. Let’s investigate this. Let’s get to the bottom of this.”

Brian Donaldson, past chair of the city’s Budget Advisory Board, found out from a reporter and said he was stunned by the news.

“I’m concerned that correct protocols are not in place to ensure this type of thing doesn’t happen in the future,” he said. “And if I was a union member, I’d be very, very concerned about the lack of transparency in this process.”

The whole point of having a union is that everyone gets treated uniformly, Herbst said.

“You can’t pick out two people and give them raises,” he said. “If you’re singling out one person, everyone else is going to be screaming bloody murder.”

Susannah Bryan can be reached at sbryan@sunsentinel.com . Follow me on X @Susannah_Bryan