MAYVILLE – The Chautauqua County Legislature will vote on a contract at its next meeting between the county and its largest union.
During the legislature’s Administrative Services Committee meeting, Chief Financial Officer Kitty Crow and Human Resources Director Deborah Makowski went over the details of the proposed four-year contract with CSEA Unit 6300.
Makowski said the union, which represents about 700 employees, approved the contract with 89.1 percent approval.
There were some key points of financial confusion. “As you can imagine, both sides came to the table with some very heavy items. … The emphasis was on wages in the context of recruitment, retention and inflation.” Makowski said.
The tentative agreement calls for a 3 percent increase in 2024, a 3.5 percent increase in 2025 and a 3.5 percent increase in 2026.
It also provides a bonus of $1,000 in 2025 and another bonus of $1,000 in 2026. The bonuses are payable in two separate installments each year. However, the bonuses depend on the inflation rate.
If inflation is below 2%, bonuses will not be awarded.
Crow said when inflation rises, everything costs more, which affects everyone. “We recognize that if inflation is high, the employee is experiencing it in their bottom line.” she said
But a low inflation rate means the county would not pay the $1,000 bonus. “We’re not going to give a pay cut, but we can say we’re tying this bonus to the tax cap and inflation.” Crow said.
State intervention announces what the tax cap is, so it’s not something the county can control.
The agreement also allows employees to raise a “step”. According to Crow, this represents roughly an additional 3.5% increase. “We felt it was important both in terms of recruitment and retention. … Something like this can help someone stay in the county a couple more years, so we’ll have more time to build that transition for when they retire.” she said
There were other minor changes that were not listed in the resolution. Some of them included offering a shoe stipend for those required to wear safety boots, eliminating bonuses for those who don’t use sick time, eliminating paper pay stubs, and some minor changes to health care benefits.
In the first year, the county budget would be hit by $2.8 million, with about $1.7 million of that amount coming from the local part of the county, which excludes state or federal funds.
Crow said looking at the county’s long-term financial picture, if the county raises its levy annually to the limit of the tax cap, they will be in a “breakeven point” position with this new contract for the duration.
The Administrative Services Commission approves the agreement unanimously. The plenary of the legislature will vote for the final approval in its meeting scheduled for Wednesday, July 26.
Today’s news and more delivered to your inbox
