2 contracts up for approval

Thursday, January 21, 2010

By KATHY CLEVELAND

Staff Writer

MILFORD – Town Administrator Guy Scaife told a sparse audience at the town’s budget and bond hearing Monday night he doesn’t support the latest contract covering police department patrol officers.

The contract keeps a provision for sick-time buyouts, Scaife said, while of all the rest of town employees, including members of the Teamsters union, have dropped it.

“Sick time is not an entitlement,” he said. “It’s there for when you are sick. I am baffled why 17 employees should be treated differently.”

Voters will be asked to approve two employee union contracts on Election Day, March 9, one for the 17 police officers – members of American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, and one for members of the Teamsters union, which covers about 23 people.

The AFSCME members are non-management, mostly patrol officers, and make up half of the 34-member police department, Scaife said.

Each of the two three-year settlements call for no wage increases this year. Teamsters agreed to up to a 3 percent merit increase for 2011, while the AFSCME proposal calls for a 2.5 percent across-the-board increase for 2011.

“Teamsters went out of their way to meet the challenges of this economic climate,” Scaife said.

The AFSCME contract amounts to a $49,829 warrant article and would account for a 3 cent tax rate increase. The cost of the Teamsters’ pact is $24,040, with a little over a 1 cent tax rate increase. Both include retroactive wage increases for 2009.

Scaife said he’s proud of the police force, calling it an “outstanding organization.” He emphasized his disagreement is with the sick-time issue.

“It’s a small issue, but you can’t in good faith say one class of people should be treated differently,” he said.

Through elimination of the sick-time buyout for Teamster and non-union employees, $54,000 was saved this year, and the AFSCME contract sick-day buyout provision would cost the town $6,200 for the 17 employes, he said.

Negotiations with AFSCME reached an impasse last year after the town and employees couldn’t agree on merit pay and other issues, and a fact finder was called in.

On Monday night, town officials went over each warrant article, including the one for the $11.4 million 2010 operating budget, which is down by 1.4 percent and has a $4.16 tax impact.

Selectmen’s Chairmen Tim Finan said the reductions were achieved despite a $400,000 decrease in revenue, because of the “outstanding efforts of the staff.”

Scaife said expenses were cut in numerous ways and productivity increased, while at the same time there has been an increase in services, including expanded town clerk’s hours and library hours and programs.

There were few comments from the audience of a couple dozen people, who mostly were town employees and committee members.

Peter Basiliere, the town moderator, called it “disingenuous” to claim the operating budget is down, because when debt service retirement is removed from the calculations, he said the budget is actually up.

Scaife said the way the budget is calculated is consistent from year to year.

The $850,000 bond to buy property for a joint fire/ambulance facility will need a 60 percent majority at the polls.

Leighton White, who’s a member of the facilities committee but said he was speaking as a taxpayer, said “this is probably the best time” to buy the four lots – “the most economical time in history.”

Water Commissioner Robert Courage gave a presentation on a $1.2 million bond for an upgraded septage receiving facility at the wastewater treatment plant that would be paid for with a low-interest loan and 50 percent loan forgiveness in the federal stimulus fund program.

The facility is necessary to meet a federal requirement to reduce the amount of cooper, which comes from household plumbing and from wells and septic systems, that’s leaving the treatment plan and going into the Souhegan River.

It would also allow Milford to process additional septage from neighboring communities and gain some additional revenue.

There would be no rate increase for sewer payers, because the loan would be paid from the wastewater treatment budget.

The town shouldn’t pass up the opportunity to get American Recovery and Reinvestment Act funds, Courage said.

The next step in the town’s budget approval process comes at the Feb. 6 deliberative session, at which voters can make changes to the warrant articles.

The Saturday session is scheduled for 9 a.m. in the Town Hall auditorium.