A total of 55 members of the RTM met Monday for less than half an hour in a special session to vote on the contract (the only policy item on the agenda). Jack Davis, chairman of the Finance and Budget Committee, told the RTM that eight members of his committee had voted for it.
The contract runs from July 1, 2014 to June 30, 2018. Members of the bargaining unit include many secretaries, but it also includes a custodian at the Police Department, the deputy fire marshal and the assistant building inspector.
Salaries would increase 1.75 percent for the current fiscal year (ending June 30), and then 2.5 percent a year for the next three years. Increased costs to the town as a result of the contract peak at about $66,000 in one year.
For the current fiscal year, the average of negotiated union contract settlements statewide has been 2.36 percent, and for arbitrated settlements, 2.18 percent, so the Darien contract comes in lower than average.
For the other years, the percentage increases are “well within the range of statewide negotiated settlements, which have seen settlements topping out at 2.66 percent,” according to a June 6 memo to the RTM from Town Administrator Karl Kilduff (PDF here).
Health insurance costs are minimized by a high-deductible health insurance plan and closing employee options on other plans starting in the 2016-2017 fiscal year, which town officials believe will save taxpayers about $35,000 a year based on current rates of enrollment.
The union ratified the agreement on June 4. Two other labor contracts still under negotiation are for unions representing public works employees and police.
For the last year of the contract, the town is allowed to open up negotiations aimed at avoiding payment of a federal “Cadillac Tax” for generous health insurance benefits.
RTM members asked a few questions about the contract. Here are some of the answers:
- Total cost of compensation for the bargaining unit is $2.6 million in the first year, or 0.3 of a mill and less than 2 percent of the town side of the budget, Kilduff said.
- The incremental cost to the town for the next year is $63,000, according to Davis.
- Town Finance Director Kathleen Buch said the biggest annual increase in spending attributable to the largest single annual increase in costs is $66,000.
“I think we have a great staff in Town Hall,” RTM Member Jim Cameron said. “I think they provide an incredible level of service. […] I will vote very enthusiastically to give them this pay increase.”