City employees forfeit raises, NFD likely to be fully staffed in 2016
NORWICH – In light of the city’s cash strapped 2016 tentative budget, city employees have settled agreements to forgo union contract raises for the coming year.
Negotiated contracts with the Norwich Police Benevolent Association, Firefighters Association, and CSEA for administrative support staff and the Department of Public Works were ratified by the Norwich Common Council on Wednesday. For most city employees, the agreement means they will not see a two percent bump in salary in 2016.
Having been heavily targeted for cuts early on in the budgeting process, including a possible reduction in personnel, the Fire Department made a number of concessions to save its head count. Those concessions include a reduction in holiday time from 110 hours to 55 hours, elimination of all personal time, removal of laundry service, and removal of the 2,928-hour cap that Fire Assistants can work in a calendar year. Department employees have also agreed to contribute 25 percent of health insurance premiums next year.
In return, city officials have expanded the residency requirement for Fire Assistants from a 10-mile radius to all of Chenango County, thus increasing the pool of potential Fire Assistant employees. More notable, the city agreed not to lay off fire personnel in 2016.
Contract ratifications followed a public hearing on the city’s 2016 proposed financial plan. Residents weighed in on the city’s current financial state and cautioned city officials on what a tax increase would mean to them.
“I think there’s more work to be done on the budget. It’s not sustainable,” said Norwich resident Sharon Pelosi. “Going forward as a municipality, I think you need to think about our shrinking tax base and how many people are going to be able to afford the tax bill you send them next year.”
Several residents also noted the escalating cost of retirement for city employees, considerable overtime costs in the 2015 budget (namely in the fire department), and the burden such expenses will put on taxpayers in the coming years. Others called for the reduction in staff in lieu of a tax rate increase. Any increase, some argued, would hurt commerce and the housing market within the city.
“The largest expense in the city budget is personal head county, not just for this year’s proposed budget, but for future budgets,” said property owner H. William Smith. Smith urged the Council to “make the head count cuts which were in the original budget and perhaps even more.”
“I know you are all elected officials and you are up against the most powerful lobby – the police and fire departments; but you have to think what is best for the financial future of the city you serve and make the hard choices. Make the cuts.”
“I understand the work that has gone in the last couple of months on this budget,” said Mayor-elect Christine Carnrike. “My concern is about 2017. We have spent all of our savings. I have serious concerns that we are, to coin the phrase, kicking the can down the road.”
Carnrike added that public safety should be a top priority moving forward. “The biggest thing that I have heard: We need to restore public safety in the city. That’s what the taxpayers are paying for. They’re paying for fire, they’re paying for the police and EMS, and they’re paying for their streets, sewer, and water.”
The Common Council will vote on a final revised budget later this month.
Negotiated contracts with the Norwich Police Benevolent Association, Firefighters Association, and CSEA for administrative support staff and the Department of Public Works were ratified by the Norwich Common Council on Wednesday. For most city employees, the agreement means they will not see a two percent bump in salary in 2016.
Having been heavily targeted for cuts early on in the budgeting process, including a possible reduction in personnel, the Fire Department made a number of concessions to save its head count. Those concessions include a reduction in holiday time from 110 hours to 55 hours, elimination of all personal time, removal of laundry service, and removal of the 2,928-hour cap that Fire Assistants can work in a calendar year. Department employees have also agreed to contribute 25 percent of health insurance premiums next year.
In return, city officials have expanded the residency requirement for Fire Assistants from a 10-mile radius to all of Chenango County, thus increasing the pool of potential Fire Assistant employees. More notable, the city agreed not to lay off fire personnel in 2016.
Contract ratifications followed a public hearing on the city’s 2016 proposed financial plan. Residents weighed in on the city’s current financial state and cautioned city officials on what a tax increase would mean to them.
“I think there’s more work to be done on the budget. It’s not sustainable,” said Norwich resident Sharon Pelosi. “Going forward as a municipality, I think you need to think about our shrinking tax base and how many people are going to be able to afford the tax bill you send them next year.”
Several residents also noted the escalating cost of retirement for city employees, considerable overtime costs in the 2015 budget (namely in the fire department), and the burden such expenses will put on taxpayers in the coming years. Others called for the reduction in staff in lieu of a tax rate increase. Any increase, some argued, would hurt commerce and the housing market within the city.
“The largest expense in the city budget is personal head county, not just for this year’s proposed budget, but for future budgets,” said property owner H. William Smith. Smith urged the Council to “make the head count cuts which were in the original budget and perhaps even more.”
“I know you are all elected officials and you are up against the most powerful lobby – the police and fire departments; but you have to think what is best for the financial future of the city you serve and make the hard choices. Make the cuts.”
“I understand the work that has gone in the last couple of months on this budget,” said Mayor-elect Christine Carnrike. “My concern is about 2017. We have spent all of our savings. I have serious concerns that we are, to coin the phrase, kicking the can down the road.”
Carnrike added that public safety should be a top priority moving forward. “The biggest thing that I have heard: We need to restore public safety in the city. That’s what the taxpayers are paying for. They’re paying for fire, they’re paying for the police and EMS, and they’re paying for their streets, sewer, and water.”
The Common Council will vote on a final revised budget later this month.
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