More Now Public on Cops' Contract [UPDATE]

Update 5:59 a.m., Wednesday:

Town Administrative Officer Karl Kilduff released more information Tuesday evening on the proposed Darien Police Association union contract.

The total cost of the police union contract in this fiscal year is estimated at $6,769,159.

One of the significant cost savings for the town in the contract is in changes in the health plan, Kilduff said, particularly regarding changes in prescription rules.

Among other changes in the contract, allows union members to take personal days off if their doing so doesn't increase overtime. There was a time, Kilduff said, "in the ancient past" when employees "were denied the ability to respond to a personal emergency with a personal day off."

In his presentation to the Board of Finance, Kilduff identified these estimated costs and savings from the union contract, including various allowances and taking into account estimated health-care savings.

Fiscal Year

(July 1-June 30)

Wage IncreaseUnder the

Proposed Contract

Other

(clothing, cleaning, education incentive

Wages

Additional

Cost of New

Contract

Provisions

Total

Cost of Contract

* This amount went down because of retirements.

**This amount Kilduff appeared to indicate was $60,000 earlier in the day.

Source: Town Administrative Officer Karl Kilduff

Kilduff said his comparisons to police contract costs in other towns was limited to the towns he had information on. "I don't have anything that's current for some other 'peer' towns," he said.

Update 6:20 p.m., Tuesday:

Salary increases police union contract just endorsed by the Board of Selectmen will cost an additional $337,940 over the course of four years, according to figures released Tuesday by Town Administrative Officer Karl Kilduff.

No exact estimate for future salaries can be made, Kilduff said, in part because choices police make in health-care plans may affect the total amount. Kilduff has said the town expects to save at least $83,000 in health-care costs.

Previous town budgets have set aside money for salary increases after contracts have been approved, Kilduff said.

The Representative Town Meeting, as the town's principal legislative body, makes the final decision on whether or not to accept a labor union contract. The Board of Selectmen and Board of Finance each make recommendations to the RTM.

The Board of Finance is scheduled to meet at 7 p.m. in the Town Hall Auditorium to consider its recommendation. (At 7:30 p.m., the Board of Finance will hold a public hearing in the Auditorium on the proposed town budget.)

The towns last unresolved contract is the one for clerical employees, Kilduff said. Exact contract language for the Darien Police Association agreement and the one for employees in the town Department of Public Works and Parks & Recreation Department has not yet been drawn up.

Kilduff did not say when the language for each of those would be drawn up and agreed to by each party.

Original article (with corrections, see below):

The Board of Selectmen, with hardly any public discussion Monday, endorsed a four-year labor contract with the town police union that would raise overall salaries each year by 1.85, 2.25, 2.5 and 2.5 percent.

The 48-member Darien Police Association, representing patrol officers, sergeants and lieutenants in the , ratified the terms of the contract on Monday.

Although the board barely discussed the contract in open session—it had met in executive session just before the public meeting—Town Administrative Officer Karl Kilduff provided a description of its terms in a March 8 memo to selectmen, Board of Finance members and members of the Representative Town Meeting.

Kilduff compared the proposed contract wage increases to those in some other towns, although it isn't clear in the memo why those particular towns were chosen.

Proposed Darien

General Wage

Increase

Greenwich

Police

Contract

Ridgefield

Police

Contract

Westport

Police

Contract

Source: Kilduff's March 8 memorandum

State arbitrators, Kilduff wrote, have awarded wage increases of 3 percent or more "for public safety positions."

There were no estimates for  additional cost to taxpayers of the contract either in Kilduff's memo or in the board's public discussion. Kilduff did say the town expected to save more than $83,000 in health insurance costs.

The police union and the town have been in negotiations for 19 months, according to Kilduff's memo.

The salary increases are retroactive to July 1, 2010, the day after the previous contract expired, and the last year of the contract ends on June 30, 2014.

Health insurance

The health care plan for employees would "change to fall in line with a less costly plan provided to Town Hall union employees and department directors," Kilduff wrote.

First Selectman Jayme Stevenson said the provisions in the contract about the employee share of health care premiums was modeled after the contract for Department of Public Works and Recreation Department employees.

In the proposed police contract, the employee's share of the premium increases during the life of the contract, and employees will be given the option of choosing a high-deductible health savings account.

Employee Share of

Premium Payments

After

June 30,

2014

Source: Kilduff's March 8 memorandum

"For comparison in our region, Greenwich is at 10 percent for a similar type of plan. Weston is at 14 percent for a HDHP/HSA," Kilduff wrote.

For police receiving worker's compensation for long-term sick leave, the town pays one-third of the payments and worker's compensation insurance pays the other two thirds. Under the new contract, the town's payments would be gradually reduced after the first nine months.

Police on worker's compensation would also be put into the same managed care health-care program used by other town employees on worker's compensation.

Editor's note: This article, as it appeared Tuesday morning, was based on Kilduff's memorandum (attached to this article) and the brief discussion during the board meeting. The March 6 memorandum, which includes technical language, was not made public until late Monday evening. Kilduff did not take questions about it until today, when he clarified and corrected several points.

Corrections: (1) Police union members voted Monday (March 12) to ratify the terms of the agreement. Kilduff's memorandum stating that the vote took place last week was based on inaccurate information he received. (2) Police have been in the worker's compensation program but will now be in the managed care health-care program for town employees in worker's compensation.

Clarification: The new contract technically does not cap salaries at lower rates for those on sick leave. Worker's compensation pays two-thirds of a salary. Under the new contract, the town will pay one-third for a period of nine months, then the town payments will wind down.