Committee accepts fiscal report on tentative Teamsters contract covering Mayor’s Action Center customer service staff

President Maggie Lewis convened the Rules and Public Policy Committee on March 17 to hear a fiscal impact statement for Proposal 76, a tentative collective bargaining agreement between the Mayor’s Action Center and Teamsters Local 135 covering customer service representatives for 2026–2028.

Deputy Controller Jake McVay presented the controller’s estimate and the key elements of the tentative agreement. "Once this contract is executed, the negotiated wages will be retroactive back to 01/01/2026," McVay said. He told the committee the presentation fulfills the requirement in municipal code section 2 9 1 dash 6 1 0 that the controller present fiscal impacts for new agreements before they take effect.

McVay described the staffing assumptions and pay components the fiscal statement uses: the estimate assumes 12 staff in the Mayor’s Action Center (10 CSR1 positions and 2 CSR2 positions), with 2026 base rates at $21.87 for CSR1 and $23.40 for CSR2. Wage rates are projected to rise about 3% in 2027 and about 3% in 2028. The contract includes seniority pay starting in an employee’s second year (calculated as 0.5% of the CSR2 base rate with an additional 0.5% each year up to the 20th year, after which seniority pay increases by $100 annually) and a $1-per-hour training premium for CSR1s; CSR2s are not eligible for the training premium because training duties are built into their job descriptions. McVay also said the negotiated increases are retroactive to Jan. 1, 2026, and that negotiations began in 2025 with a tentative agreement reached in February.

Committee members asked staffing and role questions. Councilor Alley Brown asked whether positions were filled and whether the agency was actively recruiting; McVay and Natalie Van Dongen, director of community outreach at the Mayor’s Action Center, said the unit is fully staffed with three supervisors and 12 customer service representatives (10 CSR1s, 2 CSR2s) and reported no current vacancies. Councilor Dan Boots asked for a job-duties clarification; Van Dongen described CSR1 as the standard customer-service role and CSR2 as an internal, nonmanagerial lead that assists with training and more complex operational questions.

On budgeting, McVay said the 2026 budget included a 2.6% cost-of-living adjustment that partially funds the contract and that the Office of Financial Management is working with the Mayor’s Action Center and the mayor’s office to identify ways to absorb contractual expenses this year. If necessary, appropriations could be added or transferred during the fall cleanup fiscal process and the increases will be included in the 2027 and 2028 budgets.

President Lewis noted the committee does not take a formal vote on Proposal 76; members may accept the report if comfortable doing so. The committee accepted the controller’s fiscal impact presentation and moved on to subsequent agenda items. The controller said he expects to return later in the spring with fiscal statements for other union agreements covering city employees.