Nearly a year after their previous labor agreement expired, Oxford Village’s unionized police officers and dispatchers finally have a new contract good through June 30, 2012.
Council last week voted 5-0 to approve a five-year contract with the Police Officers Labor Council, the full-time employees collective bargaining unit.
The four full-time officers and three full-time dispatchers will receive a 2.5 percent pay increase during the contract’s first year, which technically began July 1, 2007.
Police employees will be retroactively paid their wage increase via a separate, lump sum check.
A 2 percent pay raise will be given in each of the remaining four years with a ‘wage reopener? for the last three years.
‘That means that for the third, fourth and fifth years, we could reopen the contract for possible further (pay) increase,? said village Manager Joe Young. ‘Each year they’d be eligible to try to negotiate something.?
‘It doesn’t mean they’d be granted any (increases),? Young noted.
Compared to the previous labor agreement, this new one represents a $33,707 increase for the village over the five-year period.
Under the new contract, all police union employees will be enrolled in a High Deductible Health Plan (HDHP) and given Health Savings Accounts (HSA).
High Deductible Health Plans have lower premiums and higher deductibles than traditional insurance plans.
Young said this type of plan saves the village an average of about $2,000 per employee. All full-time village employees ? with the exception of the DDA director, who has the option ? will be part of the new HDHP/HSAs by June or July, according to Young.
Police employees will pay their higher health insurance deductibles out of their new HSAs, which are medical savings accounts that allow participants to contribute money not subject to federal income tax at the time of deposit.
HSA funds can be used to pay for qualified medical expenses at any time without federal tax liability.
Under the police contract, the village will contribute $1,200 annually to HSAs covering one person and $2,200 to those covering two or more people.
Police employees will be able to voluntarily add their own money to the village’s contribution any time they wish.
To help reduce the village’s health care costs, the new police contract calls for employees to chip in.
All seven full-time employees will each be required to make contributions of $10 per month ($120 annually) to help offset the village’s insurance costs.