MAYVILLE — The Chautauqua County Legislature will be voting on a contract at its next meeting between the county and its largest union.

During the legislature’s Administrative Services Committee meeting, Finance Director Kitty Crow and Human Resources Director Deborah Makowski went over the details of the proposed four-year contract with CSEA Unit 6300.

Makowski said the union, which represents around 700 employees, approved the contract with an 89.1% approval.

There were some key financial sticking points. “As you can imagine, both sides came to the table with some very hefty items. … The emphasis was on wages in the context of recruitment, retention, and inflation,” Makowski said.

The tentative agreement calls for a 3% increase in 2024, a 3.5% increase in 2025, and a 3.5% increase in 2026.

It also gives a $1,000 bonus in 2025 and another $1,000 bonus in 2026. The bonuses are to be paid out in two separate installments each year. However the bonuses are contingent upon the inflation index.

If inflation is lower than 2% the bonuses will not be awarded.

Crow said when inflation is up, everything costs more, which impacts everyone. “We recognize that if inflation is high, the employee is experiencing that in their bottom line,” she said.

But a low inflation rate means the county would not pay the $1,000 bonus. “We’re not going to give a pay decrease, but we can say we’re holding that bonus contingent with the tax cap and the inflation,” Crow said.

The state Comptroller announces what the tax cap is, so it’s not something the county can control.

The agreement also allows for employees to go up one “step.” According to Crow, that represents about an additional 3.5% increase. “We felt this was important in respect to both recruitment and retention. … Something like this can help somebody stay with the county a couple more years, so we’ll have more time to build in that transition for when they do retire,” she said.

There were other minor changes that were not listed in the resolution. Some of those included offering a footwear stipend for those who are required to wear safety boots, the elimination of bonuses for those who don’t use sick time, the elimination of paper pay stubs, and some minor changes in the health benefits.

The first year the county’s budget would be impacted by $2.8 million, with about $1.7 million of that amount coming from the county’s local share, which excludes state or federal funds.

Crow said looking at the county’s long-term financial picture, if the county increases its levy annually to the tax cap limit, they will be in a “break-even” position with this new contract for the duration.

The Administrative Services Committee unanimously adopted the resolution. The full legislature will vote on final approval at its meeting which is set for Wednesday, July 26.