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An agreement, reached between the Toledo Police Patrolman's Association and the city during a mediation session with the State Employment Relations Board, requires the city to continue paying all of the pensions premiums for the patrolmen beginning last May, according to a person close to the negotiations. Toledo officers have been paying the full 10 percent employee share of their pension contribution since Toledo City Council's exigent circumstances declaration back on March 30. Under the new deal, police will not get any of that pension premium money paid back.
The patrol officers will also defer payment of any overtime between June 1 and March of 2011. At that point accrued overtime will be paid out with a 3.5 percent increase. Officers who are eligible to retire within 36 months will not have to defer their overtime, as doing so would seriously impact their pensions.
The 3.5 percent pay starting Jan. 1, 2011 is contained within the union's current three-year contract. It will be applied to the overtime worked this year when it is paid out next year, under the recently reached agreement. There will also be no officer layoffs before April 1, 2011.
Toledo Mayor Michael P. Bell's administration previously stated that it needed $2.6 million in savings from the patrolmen's union. It was unclear how much the new agreement will save.
Back on March 30, the city council invoked a claim of exigent circumstances after police union membership rejected a negotiated package of concessions. In turn the city began forcing union members to pay the 10 percent employees' share of their pension contribution for nine months and contribute to their medical-insurance costs based on a sliding salary scale.
The forced concessions were part of Mayor Bell's plan to address a $48 million general fund deficit. He asked council to force the give-backs from city police officers when talks stalled with all the unions except for two. Dan Wagner, president of the Toledo Police Patrolman's Association, told reporters from the Toledo Blade newspaper that the agreement that was put to a vote of the union's members would cost each member about $1,100 total.
He said under the agreement the members would pay their own 10 percent share of the pension and a contribution to health care costs for two more two-week pay periods, on top of the two pay periods that they have already paid.
The total savings of the pension and health care give-backs to the city is about $520,000, which is $10,000 less than the cost of the concessions the administration had previously requested. Add this page to your favorite Social Bookmarking websites       
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