Compensation proposals outlined: city offers 2.5% COLA; union counters with 5% and higher total cost

City budget staff and Local 51 negotiators spent the opening portion of the meeting laying out competing compensation proposals and the near-term fiscal impacts.

Sashan Donoski of the Office of Management and Budget presented the numbers: the city’s May 14 offer would include a 2.5% cost-of-living adjustment (COLA) plus step changes and was represented in the packet as totaling about $40,000,000 over the four-year contract. The union’s June 26 counterproposal included a 5% COLA with embedded 5% step increases; Donoski described the union estimate as "the total cost of the contract is $56,000,000."

The parties discussed how those headline COLA proposals interact with benefits and step schedules. Donoski walked through projected effects on health-plan premiums for the most-enrolled family tier in the CDHP option, describing per-pay-period increases previously shown on earlier slides. A city staff member cautioned that federal changes to rules governing high-deductible health plans and IRS limits mean any acceptance of higher employer contributions must be accompanied by language ensuring compliance.

Context and next steps: the city said it will revise presentation slides and circulate corrected handouts (staff noted a conversion error in one slide and committed to reissuing the corrected material). Negotiators did not finalize a COLA or adopt contract language at this meeting; both sides left compensation figures on the table pending further drafting and committee review for related operational or benefits items.

What was not resolved: although dollar estimates were presented, the meeting did not produce a signed contract, and many items that affect total cost (health-plan contributions, longevity, step structure) remain subject to final language and fiscal review.