Putnam County ratifies amended PUMA contract, approves small budget transfer

The Putnam County Legislaturepersonnel committee on May 13 ratified an amended memorandum of agreement (MOA) with the Putnam Management Association (PUMA) and approved a budgetary transfer to cover related retroactive pay.

County personnel officer Eldridge told the committee the amendment "is an amendment and a one year extension of the prior MOA," and that "they're a very small group. It's about 25 people." He said the change was intended to better align the managers' agreement with other recently settled contracts and noted the amendment also adds Juneteenth as a holiday.

The committee debated whether the county could prevent future disparities between agreements for managers and other bargaining units. One legislator asked, "Is there a retroactive pay involved in this?" Eldridge said the retroactive amount reflected the change from the prior year and that the county budget reflected the difference; earlier he described the retroactive dollar impact as about a $5,000 change. Chairman Yaku moved to approve the amended agreement; the motion carried on voice vote.

Separately, the committee approved a budgetary transfer of $5,389 to fund 2025 salary and medical costs resulting from the ratified settlement. Members again asked staff to ensure the resolution and MOA reflect the correct term dates; the committee amended the resolution language to change references to December 31, 2028.

No public speakers objected. The deputy county attorney said any executed documents will need to be reissued to reflect the corrected dates if signatures are already affixed.

The committee recorded no further conditions or contingencies on the ratification; the amended MOA and the budget transfer advance to the next step in the legislature's process.