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SARATOGA SPRINGS – At the Saratoga Springs City Council meeting on Tuesday, October 20, the council unanimously approved a 5-year contract with the Police Benevolent Association (PBA). The contract is for 5 years, retroactive to 2013.
The PBA agreement calls for an 11.5 percent pay increase over the 5-year term: a 3 percent increase for 2013 (effective mid-year); 2.5 percent for 2014; and 2 percent for each of the years 2015-17. The PBA contract will save about $92,000 by the elimination of one (the most expensive) health insurance option, and save about $25,000 by increasing the annual individual contribution level from $1,000 to $1,500.
Commissioner of Finance Michele Madigan stated that she had prepared for a contract settlement by setting up reserve accounts that would cover the required retroactive pay, and that the necessary adjustments for the coming year’s budget (estimated at $490-580,000) would be able to be made without impacting the stable tax rate she had proposed in the 2016 Comprehensive Budget message on October 6. There might be some impact on some expense lines as a result, though Madigan regarded these as minimal.
Mayor Joanne Yepsen noted that this was the fifth of seven open contracts that had been settled since she took office. Currently, the fire chiefs’ and firefighters’ contracts remain to be settled.
In other Council News:
- Mayor Yepsen appointed Tamara Tepper and re-appointed Andrew Jarosh to the Community Development Citizen Advisory Committee.
- A 50th Anniversary of the Vietnam War Commemoration Event was approved. It will be at the Saratoga Springs City Center on Saturday, November 21.
- Appointments by each Council member to a High Rock parking lot technical review committee were requested by Wednesday, October 21 - with a goal to have each respondent to the RFP appear before the Council on November 9-10.
- A second public hearing on the 2016 Budget was set for Monday, November 2 at 6:50 p.m. before the next City Council meeting. This public hearing will remain open until a budget is passed.
- Commissioner Madigan delivered a third-quarter financial report. Details are on the city’s website: saratoga-springs.org
- Commissioner of Public Safety Chris Mathiesen reported that an RFP went out for firms to examine and make recommendations to improve pedestrian safety at city intersections. Responses are due by November 12.
