Fairfield County, deputies reach new 3-year contract

LANCASTER – Fairfield County Sheriff’s Office deputies, lieutenants and sergeants have agreed to a new three-year contract.

The county employees have been working without a contract since December.

“I appreciate what you do on the job,” County Commissioner Steve Davis said Tuesday during a commissioners’ meeting.

Fellow commissioners Mike Kiger and Dave Levacy echoed those comments, with Kiger noting the deputies put their lives on the line on a daily basis and that he appreciated the union staying with the county’s 2 percent annual wage increase recommendations for all the employees in the county.

Levacy thanked the deputies for their professionalism.

This was the first full contract the employees reached under their new union affiliation, the Ohio Patrolmen’s Benevolent Association. Previously, the employees had negotiated contracts as members of the Fraternal Order of Police.

Chief Deputy Jerry Perigo and Fairfield County’s Human Resources and Risk Management director, Jeffrey Porter, said in the end there were some changes to the previous contract.

“One of the things that was brought up was that starting deputies were earning less than starting dispatchers,” Perigo said. “Under the new contract, we raised the starting wage to $17.50.”

Previously, deputies were starting out at $16.33 per hour.

“The new starting wage represents the 2 percent increase and a one-time adjustment to bring starting salaries in line with the dispatchers,” Porter said.

Under the terms of the agreement, the employee share of health care will remain at 15 percent and could only increase 10 percent a year on the first and second year of the contract and a maximum of 15 percent on the final year of agreement.

“However, our health benefits have not been been rising anywhere near that amount, so we really don’t expect this to have much of a financial impact,” Perigo said.

Porter said he appreciated the way the union was able to work with the county to help solve the outstanding issues.

“We are thankful for the good faith negotiations and willingness to stay within the overall budget parameters,” Porter said.

Porter said the county had not established what the additional costs to the county would be during the length of the three-year contract compared with the current contract.

The union represents 95 deputies and 16 sergeants and lieutenants in the sheriff’s office. The new contract is retroactive to December.

cburnett@lancastereaglegazette.com

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