Middletown council reviews tentative UPSU contract; members press for Baker Tilly study before final action

Corey Wisniewski, the city’s deputy general counsel, told the Middletown Common Council on June 18 that a tentative one-year successor agreement with the United Public Service Employees Union (UPSU) Local 645 would take effect July 1, 2025 if the council approves the necessary funds.

“ I believe that this contract is fair and reasonable and I encourage you to support it,” Wisniewski said, summarizing the administration’s view of the tentative agreement (TA) reached May 20, 2025.

The TA would add new retiree insurance tiers — including a Tier 4 that applies to employees hired on or after Aug. 1, 2025 — change vesting from 15 to 20 years for some hires, and require retirees in that new tier to enroll in the city’s group Medicare Advantage supplemental plan once they turn 65. Wisniewski said the city estimates the change could yield “about $5,000” in annual savings per future retiree once those individuals begin retiring; he also said the fund-implementation package the council would be asked to approve totals $239,746.80.

Why it matters: The changes are designed to reduce the city’s unfunded OPEB (other post‑employment benefits) liability over time and to preserve institutional knowledge during a leadership transition. Council members pressed officials for precise counts, budget offsets and a clearer explanation of how the proposals would affect current employees and retirees.

Director Erlacher, who presented the city finance figures at the workshop, said the city’s OPEB trust holds roughly $40 million while the OPEB liability was reported at about $171 million; he said the general pension fund had been updated to approximately $508.2 million. “We have $40,000,000 in that trust right now,” the director said while explaining how the trust is funded from internal service fund balances.

Council members asked whether the TA’s estimated savings — including a cited $66,000 annual benefit if all eligible members switched tiers — were already factored into the $239,746.80 request for funds. Wisniewski replied the $66,000 figure is conditional and depends on how many unit members opt to switch between July 1 and Aug. 1, so it cannot be treated as a guaranteed offset to the immediate funding request.

Itemized costs: Wisniewski and staff identified components underlying the $239,746.80 estimate as roughly $37,666.80 for reclassifications, $63,075.80 for step increases and about $139,004.20 for a 2.6% cost‑of‑living adjustment.

Concerns about process and timing dominated the remainder of the workshop. Several councilors pressed the administration about an outside compensation and classification study performed by Baker Tilly, which a prior council appropriation funded. Multiple members said they had not yet seen the Baker Tilly results and argued that approving TA language that ties reclassification timelines to an outside study — language that would make a new reclassification process active Jan. 1, 2026 unless the council approves a reclassification and compensation plan earlier — unduly constrains the council without the study’s findings.

“ To this day, we haven’t seen anything on it,” Councilman Anthony Gennaro said of the Baker Tilly output, voicing the frustration echoed by several colleagues who asked for a separate workshop devoted to the classification study.

Wisniewski responded that the Baker Tilly work is a separate project not strictly part of the TA and suggested bringing the administration and consultants back for a focused discussion, while also saying the TA language was intended to protect the city if a new compensation plan were adopted.

Arbitration and next steps: Wisniewski warned that if the council rejects the TA, the union had indicated it would seek arbitration before the State Board of Mediation and Arbitration rather than return to the negotiating table. “UPSU has already informed me that they are not going back to the table on this TA for negotiation but would rather file directly for arbitration,” he said, outlining possible arbitration costs and procedures.

No formal council vote on the tentative agreement was recorded at the workshop. After questions concluded, the chair called for a motion to adjourn; the motion was moved and seconded and the meeting was adjourned by voice vote.

What’s next: Councilors asked staff to provide clearer counts of how many unit members occupy each tier, to confirm precisely which budget lines would absorb the TA’s costs, and to schedule—or request—the Baker Tilly deliverable for a standalone session before any final action on the TA.