toledoblade.com --

Eight months of tense and stressful labor negotiations between the city of Toledo and its police patrolmen's union came to an end yesterday with a tentative agreement both sides said they could accept.

Mayor Carty Finkbeiner and Toledo Police Patrolman's Union President Dan Wagner said they came to an agreement but neither side would reveal details.

The proposed package will be presented to the union's membership tomorrow and council is expected to vote on the contract during a special meeting Thursday.

"This was a good compromise for both sides," Mr. Finkbeiner said last night. "The city, the council, and the unions that represent the city are tripartite partners … they had issues they wanted to address and the city needed to address the fact that we have had an unbalanced budget."

Mr. Finkbeiner has been asking for deep concessions from the police union to help close the city's remaining $12.5 million general fund deficit projected for 2009 - a figure that peaked at about $27.7 million earlier this year before layoffs and other cutbacks.

The mayor laid off 75 officers on May 1 to help close the predicted shortfall. Twenty-nine of those officers will be rehired tomorrow with state and federal grant money.

The mayor previously asked for a one-year, 10 percent pay cut, an end to the city paying the employees' 10 percent contribution to the police pension fund, and a police contribution to health-care costs. The employee share of the pension is on top of the employer's contribution of 19.5 percent.

The mayor on March 31 asked Toledo City Council to declare "exigent circumstances" in order to force wage and pension cutbacks on the police union outside of ongoing negotiations but it was never taken to a vote.

Mr. Wagner also said he would not reveal details of the proposed contract.

"It's an agreement that benefits the city and our officers at the same time," he said. "It's not a great agreement for both sides, but that's what negotiations are all about and it's something both sides can live with."

Councilman George Sarantou said he was eager last night to learn the details of the tentative contract. "I am very optimistic and now obviously TPPA has to make a decision," Mr. Sarantou said. "There has been a great deal of tugging and pushing on both sides."

The new agreement, if approved by the union's membership and council, eliminates the need for a fact-finder report. Both sides presented their cases to fact-finder, Harry Graham, who had suggested recently that the two sides try to reach an agreement.

Just last week, the union president said talks had broken down again and accused Mr. Finkbeiner of "blowing up" a tentative agreement the two sides had worked out with the concessions needed to help the budget-beleaguered city.

He said Mr. Finkbeiner insisted a clause be added that made the contract contingent upon Toledo City Council approving an increase in the fee that Toledoans pay for garbage collection and a reduction in the income tax credit for Toledoans working in other municipalities.

Mr. Finkbeiner last night declined to comment on that issue but Robert Reinbolt, the mayor's chief of staff, last week said the claim was not correct.

The city's shortfall is driven by decreasing income tax receipts, which this year are expected to net $145 million - the same amount collected in 1997. That figure is down from the $169 million anticipated when the budget was passed in January.

On March 30, the mayor presented a plan to balance the budget. Among the measures were the trash fee increase and the tax credit reduction.

Also, he said subcontracting Toledo's trash collection beginning Sept. 1 would save $1 million. The mayor now wants to automate trash pickup with city crews, but it won't happen until next year.

Mr. Finkbeiner also wanted a 10 percent pay cut and PERS suspension for the Toledo Municipal Court employees and the elected judges but that has not happened either.

Councilman Frank Szollosi said he would not support any tax or fee increases.

"That will be, at least with this councilman, dead on arrival," he said. "We will respect the collective bargaining process, but quite frankly the decision of pushing this decision deep in the year, and then expecting a bailout is wrong - it was wrong six months ago when they asked for the new revenue."

The mayor had also asked council to approve by June 1 an increase in the city's refuse fee to $10 for people who do not recycle and to $7 for those who do. The fee changed May 1 under a previously approved structure to $8.50 a month for those who don't recycle and $1 for those who do.

He also wanted by June 1 to begin generating more than $3 million through Dec. 31 by cutting in half the city's income-tax credit for Toledoans who work outside the city. That plan has been rejected by council twice.

The city is also negotiating for concessions with the Toledo Police Command Officers Association; Local 92 Firefighters; AFSCME Local 2058 Supervisors, and Local 7 Communication Operators.

Contact Ignazio Messina at:
imessina@theblade.com
or 419-724-6171.

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