Council approves appropriations for police and fire as labor talks continue; unions say bargaining insufficient

The Michigan City Common Council on Dec. 2 approved a series of additional appropriations to cover police and fire salaries, overtime and benefits for 2025, even as firefighters and police union representatives urged stronger bargaining and faster resolution of outstanding contract issues.

Council sponsors characterized the appropriations as internal transfers to pay wages for time already worked. "These are simply movements within the fund or the budget," Councilman Dabney said during the presentation of three line‑item transfers; the council later approved the three resolutions unanimously.

Union and department speakers used the public-comment periods to press the council and administration. Christopher Zbudis, who identified himself as representing Michigan City firefighters (Local 470/475), told members that the unions had been given only "two meetings totaling just 2 hours" for negotiations and said the pattern represented "not bargaining" and "certainly not good faith." He said members face proposed cuts to long-standing benefits and retiree insurance changes that amount to new costs for people who served decades.

Officer Steven Albano and other union members reiterated concerns that the city did not follow the contract’s negotiation timeline and argued bargaining had been delayed and limited. Council members acknowledged the unions' frustrations while explaining fiscal constraints: Councilman Dabney and others cited a $4.2 million loss tied to sunset or redistribution of county-level local income tax (LIT) funds and reduced riverboat revenue (Dabney said riverboat receipts had fallen from as high as $20 million previously to roughly $8–$9 million).

Procedurally, the council advanced and passed several items in the same meeting by waiving rules where allowed. An ordinance on third reading approved an additional appropriation from the general fund for payment of remaining police and fire salaries and benefits; another ordinance drew from the public-safety LIT fund for further salary and wage payments. Council votes recorded on these items were unanimous across those recorded in the transcript (9–0) after debate and public hearings.

Police and fire chiefs explained operational drivers of overtime and recruitment challenges. Chief Taylor and Chief Steve Foraker described staffing shortages, academy and certification timelines for new hires and long-term patterns of overtime, while Foraker noted certain overtime-backed programs are later reimbursed (for example, state-funded operations and task-force reimbursements). Several council members asked chiefs to include monthly overtime totals in their routine reports.

Council members and the controller also raised longer-term questions about retiree medical costs and a proposed spousal carve‑out to contain benefits spending; the controller said the changes under discussion would apply to all city employees to better manage escalating medical costs.

Next steps: labor talks remain ongoing. Some salary and benefits ordinances were held over for second readings; others were advanced to third reading and approved to ensure payroll and overtime already incurred can be paid this year. The council and the labor-relations committee indicated they will continue negotiations with union representatives and requested additional financial data to support bargaining in good faith.