Jacksonville and its police union are back at the bargaining table, with the union having offered to take a pay cut starting this year.

It's unclear what effect the talks will have on the 2010 fiscal contract that the two sides have been tussling over for two years.

"Both parties are interested in looking forward," said interim General Counsel Mary Jarrett, adding that the 2010 contract might still be imposed on the union by the City Council.

Local Fraternal Order of Police President Nelson Cuba, who approached the city with an offer several weeks ago, said he's looking for the previous two years to be "status quo," with the negotiations now aiming at a three-year contract starting this year.

The offer made by the union, Cuba said, includes a 1 percent pay cut and other options - including furloughs - that he said would save the same amount of money the city has been asking for since talks started in September 2009.

Insurance contributions are not included in the offer.

"The monetary value of our concessions will be higher than any other bargaining unit in the city," Cuba said.

Yet to be determined is if such a plan would be considered equitable compared to cuts taken by the city's other unions.

Under those contracts, negotiations reopen with the other bargaining units if the different groups don't have parity.

For the past two years, as they haggled over a contract for the 2010 fiscal year, the city has asked for a 2 percent pay cut and for officers to contribute to their insurance coverage.

The city is analyzing the union's offer, Jarrett said, with the two sides planning on returning to the table sometime next week.