Door County Board ratifies three‑year deputy sheriffs’ contract

The Door County Board of Supervisors on Dec. 3 ratified a three‑year collective bargaining agreement with the Door County Deputy Sheriffs Association, approving pay‑step changes, phased wage increases and new overtime and leave rules.

Board Chair opened the special meeting at about 8:00 a.m. and said the session was called specifically so the board could consider the agreement. Supervisor Todd Thais moved to approve the resolution to ratify the contract; the motion was seconded and carried by voice vote. The chair said finance will calculate and process any required back pay retroactive to Jan. 1 if the timing allows.

County staff member Sean, who walked the board through the document, described the contract as a three‑year agreement running from Jan. 1 through Dec. 31, 2027. He summarized the principal changes to compensation and work rules: the wage schedule adds steps (including step 8 and step 9), and staff described phased increases in the near term. On the schedule he said there is “a combined 5% increase in 2026, 3%, 2027, 3%.” The contract also consolidates previously separated groups of security deputies and sergeants into a single pay group so those positions receive the same wage level.

Sean said the agreement clarifies grievance procedures by noting the union has two possible avenues — a statutory route or grievance arbitration through the Wisconsin Employment Relations Commission — and confirms that probationary employees in their first year do not acquire grievance rights under either path. He told the board the union agreed to remove paid time for the union’s negotiating committee during bargaining sessions; "the union had agreed to that provision," he said.

The contract includes operational and benefits changes. Vacations and limits on the number of deputies who may take time off per shift were restructured to reduce forced overtime and overtime costs. A new rotating overtime schedule limits forced overtime to no more than 12 hours for any deputy in a six‑day cycle "unless the more senior deputies have also worked such overtime," Sean said. The agreement also allows deputies to participate in a post‑employment benefit plan that had previously been available to other county employees.

On compensatory time, Supervisor Joel Gunlixson asked whether deputies could bank an unlimited amount. Sean located the provision in the packet and said the contract sets an 80‑hour maximum of compensatory time in a calendar year. "On page 44 of the packet, 80 hours of comp time is the max allowed in a calendar year," he said.

Board members asked when the union ratified the agreement; Sean said the union voted to approve it the prior week (or at the end of the week before). Because of that timing the county scheduled a special meeting so finance could complete payroll calculations and process any retroactive pay prior to year end.

The board voted to approve the resolution by voice; the chair announced the motion carried and the contract was ratified. The meeting ended after a brief announcement of the next regular county board meeting on Dec. 16.

The contract was described and discussed on the record; the board took formal action to approve it by voice vote. Details such as exact vote counts and any implementing dates beyond the stated Jan. 1 start were not specified in the public record of this meeting.