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Ithaca council approves benefits and salary schedule for management confidential employees
Summary
The Common Council voted unanimously March 12 to adopt a fringe-benefits document and salary schedule for management confidential employees, implementing the schedule retroactive to Jan. 1, 2025. Council debate centered on process, budget timing and the proposal's $43,000 incremental cost estimate.
The Ithaca Common Council on March 12 approved a resolution adopting a new fringe-benefits document and accompanying salary schedule for management confidential employees, to be implemented retroactively to Jan. 1, 2025.
Council members said the decision matters because it clarifies benefits for a group of employees who are not represented by a bargaining unit and aligns their salary schedule with the CSEA admin contract approved earlier this year.
The resolution, as read into the record, directed that the city implement the attached salary schedule and fringe-benefit package retroactive to Jan. 1, 2025. City Manager Deb presented the package and the staff materials accompanying it; the motion was seconded by Alderson Saint Perez. After a period of debate the council voted to approve the resolution unanimously.
Deb told the council the schedule mirrors the CSEA admin contract already approved in January and reflected the market adjustments negotiated there. An acting controller summarized the salary adjustments as “for 2025, a 7% increase in salaries” and said that the $43,000 figure reported in the meeting represents the difference between the group’s 2024 payroll and the projected 2025 payroll after that increase.
Several council members said they supported the change but wanted more advance information in future budget cycles. Alderson Fabrizio said the timing — materials issued shortly before the meeting — limited council members’ ability to review financial implications: “We’re being asked to make a financial decision also outside of a full budget review,” Fabrizio said. Alderson Letterman, who urged approval, said he had asked the city manager before the meeting and was told the incremental cost was about $43,000, which he described as 0.04% of the city budget.
Other speakers asked for more clarity about specific benefits in the package. One council member described the wellness incentive included in the benefits summary, noting it can pay up to $200 per employee per year for individual plans and larger amounts for family coverage, and asked for a projection of the program’s annual cost to the city. Deb and staff said the document compiled existing practices and some previously negotiated memoranda of understanding into a single, comprehensive statement of benefits for the group and that the salary portions had been anticipated in the city’s 2025 budget allocations.
Before voting, councilors spent time debating process: whether such changes should be discussed fully during annual budget work sessions rather than on a special voting night. The council nonetheless approved the resolution without recorded opposition.
The council also voted to adjourn and moved on to other agenda items.
Votes at a glance
- Resolution approving fringe-benefit document and salary schedule for management confidential employees — approved unanimously (motion seconded by Alderson Saint Perez).
