By Wayne Allen
The Scioto County Commissioners last week approved a contract with the Fraternal Order of Police/Ohio Labor Council, which represents employees of the Scioto County Sheriff’s Office.
Since January, the commissioners, the sheriff, and the union that governs employees of the office have been trying to reach an agreement. Temporary agreements have been passed while conversations continued. In June, the commissioners rejected a proposed contract, citing budget concerns.
“He (Scioto County Sheriff Marty Donini) was asking for a 93 cent raise on the hour for each employee in the first year of the agreement. That was going to be an across the board increase,” Commissioner Bryan Davis said follwoing the rejection in June.
Davis said the commissioners ran the numbers with Scioto County Auditor David Green and agreed the proposal was more than what could be absorbed by the county budget. He said the commissioners agree they have to stay within their budget forecasts.
“You can’t spend money you don’t have, and the bottom line is: we have to watch this (budget) and watch it close we have to take care of the people’s money,” Davis said. “We appreciate our law enforcement and we think they are great workers. They are hitting the pavement everyday protecting us as citizens, but we also have to watch the bottom line.”
Members of the Fraternal Order of Police/Ohio Labor Council met on June 21, 2015, and accepted a contract that factored a 3.1 percent pay increase. This was the same contract the commissioners approved. The contract is retroactive to the beginning of 2015 and will run through 2017.
Wayne Allen can be reached at 740-353-3101, ext. 1933 or on Twitter @WayneallenPDT
