Middletown council workshops tentative three‑year firefighter contract; debate centers on sick‑leave caps, CEU payouts and modest captain pay bump

MIDDLETOWN — The Common Council on Monday night held a workshop to review a tentative three‑year collective bargaining agreement between the city and Local 1073 of the International Association of Fire Fighters that negotiators and officials described as fiscally measured but legally complex.

Deputy General Counsel Corey Wisniewski told council members the city signed the tentative agreement on Aug. 29 and formally transmitted an executive summary and supporting documents on Sept. 5 under the Municipal Employee Relations Act. "If the council fails to vote within that 44‑day window or before October 12," Wisniewski said, "the contract passes automatically." The council plans a formal vote at its Oct. 7 regular meeting.

Why it matters: The contract would govern firefighter pay and benefits through June 30, 2027, and carries both recurring salary costs and several changes meant to reduce long‑term payout liabilities. Finance staff said Central Fire District taxpayers — not the whole city taxpayer base — would be responsible for paying the agreement.

Key terms and tradeoffs: Negotiators described several compromises in the tentative agreement. The pact would provide a 2.75% wage increase in each of the three years, increase employee premium cost‑sharing for health insurance from 14% to 15%, eliminate an annual college incentive stipend and remove a $100 annual stipend for web‑based paging. It also places new caps and clarifications around sick‑leave accruals and cashouts and limits CEU (continuing education) accruals to reduce future buyout exposure.

On sick time, council members pressed for clarity. Councilwoman Jeanette Blackwell said the redline language made it appear some workers could accumulate more sick leave than under the current agreement. Wisniewski and Acting Fire Chief Dave Albert explained the rewrite reorganizes previously tiered rules: employees hired before Nov. 7, 2016 — who previously could accrue without limit — would instead have a 225‑day cap; employees hired on or after July 1, 2024, would be capped at 175 days; cashout mechanics remain a 50% payout subject to the clarified caps. "You can have 100 days on the books, but I'm only going to get cashed out for 50," Chief Albert said in answer to a council question about payouts.

Personnel and department structure: The TA reinstates four captain positions by converting four lieutenant slots; negotiators said the change creates clearer leadership and succession paths. Chief Albert placed the pay differential for the new captain grade at about $5,000 annually per position and said no new positions are added to the department’s headcount.

Budgetary impacts and savings: Finance Director Carl Erlacher presented the administration’s financial estimates: a roughly $241,198 first‑year salary increase with higher totals in subsequent years for a three‑year salary impact quoted as approximately $773,951 (presented as annual budgetary increases and discussed as compounding across years). The administration also identified offsets including the health premium change (estimated savings ≈ $90,000 over the period), elimination of the web‑paging stipend (≈ $18,000), removal of college incentives (≈ $38,000) and reduced CEU buyouts (estimated ≈ $312,640). Council members probed the arithmetic and whether the three‑year figure represented cumulative payroll dollars or per‑year budget increases; the director said year‑1 increases are already in this fiscal year’s budget and later years reflect subsequent budget adjustments and compounding.

Operational concerns: Councilors asked about overtime exposure, pension impacts and training access. The finance director estimated an overtime cost increase tied to wages (roughly $45,009 in the administration’s calculation); council members submitted alternate arithmetic for some line items and asked for supporting worksheets. Chief Albert described controls on CEU use, a requirement for physician notes in certain patterns of absence and a progressive‑discipline path to address suspected abuse.

Next steps: The council will have a formal vote on the tentative agreement at its regular meeting on Oct. 7; under MIRA the contract would become effective automatically if the council takes no action before the statutory deadline noted in the executive summary.

The meeting adjourned at 8:01 p.m.