Linn County approves tentative five-year agreements with PPME and IBEW

At its Feb. 12 meeting in the Gene Knox Boardroom, the Linn County Board of Supervisors approved tentative five-year agreements with PPME Local 2003 and IBEW Local 204 covering deputies, dispatchers, detention officers and sergeants. The agreements are effective July 1, 2025, and were ratified by the unions prior to the board vote.

A county staff member who led the negotiations said both agreements call for 4% wage increases in each of the first three years and leave wages and insurance open for negotiation in the final two years of the contract. "First 3 years wages of 4% and then, the last 2 years 4 and 5 open for wages and insurance," the staff member said during the presentation.

The agreements restructure paid time off by moving employees from separate vacation and sick-leave accruals into a combined short-term and long-term leave program. The staff member described the change as bringing deputies, dispatchers and detention officers onto the same leave accrual plan already in place for sergeants, allowing accruals to occur monthly and creating limited payout opportunities for short-term leave at separation. For typical sick leave the staff member said it will draw from short-term leave; FMLA-eligible absences will draw from long-term leave.

Other changes and clarifications included:

- Personal days: Employees in the covered groups will receive three personal days annually; unused personal days are not paid out. - Bereavement: Bereavement leave was expanded to five days for the death of a spouse, child, parent or parent-in-law (matching the board's administrative standard). - Step compression: Step schedules were slightly compressed (10-year step to 8 years; 15-year to 10; 20-year to 15) to better match market comparables. - Field training officer pay: Increased to $2.50 per hour (from $1.70). - On-call pay for sergeants: Increased from $1.70 per hour to $3.00 per hour when restricted from personal activities but not called in. If called in, regular wages apply. - Clothing allowance (sergeants): Increased from $350 to $500 annually. - Insurance and costs: Employee premiums will rise slightly under the agreements — the staff said the county will add approximately $10 to single coverage and $15 to family coverage each year, with deductibles and out-of-pocket maximums rising slowly in January of each contract year. - Life insurance: Base life insurance was raised to $25,000 to move groups toward consistent coverage levels. - Wellness: The agreements keep existing wellness incentives but add a preventive-exam requirement for the employee premium discount.

The staff member described moving to the combined short-term/long-term leave model as a recruiting and administrative benefit and said it allows employees to accrue time sooner rather than waiting a full year. "This enhances the ability to recruit and offer that good time off upfront because it will be accrued monthly rather than having to wait," the staff member said.

Both tentative agreements were presented to the board as recommended by staff. The board voted by voice to approve each agreement; the staff noted the unions had already ratified the tentative agreements and the board action implements the county's part of the contracts ahead of the July 1 effective date.

Board members did not record a roll-call tally in the meeting transcript; the clerk announced the motions carried on voice votes.

The contracts will take effect July 1, 2025, unless otherwise modified by later board action or a subsequent ratification step noted in the agreements.