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Last Minute Backroom Negotiations Yield Zero Job Losses
Ellenville Tax Hike Of 6.89% Approved

ELLENVILLE – Village taxpayers can expect a 6.89% increase in their taxes next year after the Village Board of Trustees adopted its budget Thursday night. Some creative trimming, and a zero-raise agreement on the part of all village employees except the police, allowed the village to restore positions that were lost in the original proposed budget.

The meeting was a continuation of the April 25 public hearing on the budget. Mayor Jeff Kaplan began the meeting by soliciting suggestions on lowering the budget impact. With no takers, he then explained that there are three budgets contained in the whole village budget: water, sewer, and the general fund, which includes the streets department, police department, building department, and the general operation of the village.

The board then went over the percentage of raises that the employees were expecting. Department of Public Works, and non-union employees, foresaw a 4.5% raise. White-collar workers were planning on a 3% raise, and the police were expecting an approximate 4.5% raise.

Insurance Impact
Medical insurance was explored next. The biggest impact in next year's budget is health insurance. Kaplan has said the state increased insurance rates by 20%, which threw the budget planning off balance.

Four employees do not pay a premium for health insurance, as part of their contract negotiation. The rest of the employees pay in the following manner: If they were hired before 2000, they contribute 5% toward health insurance. That figure goes up to 10% if they were hired from 2000 to 2007. Beyond 2007, new hires pay 15% toward insurance.

Cutting Here and There
Trustee Francisco Oliveras had a laundry list of suggestions. He and the board meticulously went over the budget and trimmed it bit by bit, mostly in the "continuing education" budget lines. For example, the board cut $2,000 off the Safety Inspection budget, from $30,000 to $28,000. All of those cuts added up to a savings of about $5,000.

Sparks flew a little when Justice Matthew Parker suggested "sacrificing" a court officer position. Chief Phil Mattracion said that would mean adding another police officer from his staff to cover that position. That led to some back-and-forth raising of voices between the chief and the judge, which Kaplan quickly ended.

Job Elimination Averted
If the budget proposed April 25 were passed, several positions would be reduced. That included eliminating one position from the streets department, and a half a position each from the water and sewer departments. It also included cutting a half court position and one-quarter building department position.

After an hour of meticulously going through budget lines, the board seemed ready to discuss adopting the budget. But Mark Teig, representative for the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, requested an executive session to discuss collective bargaining.

The board and union representatives went into a back room. It would only take a half hour, Teig said.

Two hours later, the board, union representatives, Village Manager Mary Sheeley and other village employees re-entered the village courtroom. Building Inspector Brian Schug spoke for the non-union employees.

"I don't want to see anyone lose their jobs," he said. Because of that, the non-union employees were willing to get no raise in salary next year.

Teig spoke next. The union employees' raise that was tagged for June of this year was postponed until November 1, 2012. That means the union employees would get no raise in salary next year. Included in that agreement is a no-layoff guarantee. The village agreed not to terminate or reduce hours for any position from Thursday until May 31, 2012. In addition, the union said summers hours of 6 a.m. to 2 p.m., from May 1 to November 1, will become a permanent provision of the collective bargaining unit.

The board voted on the amendments and modifications, then adopted the budget.

Kaplan seemed pleased with the final decision.

"We never wanted to terminate positions and we're glad that the staff was on board with us for the welfare of the village," he said.



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