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Non-union employees will pay premiums in Milton

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Todd J. Schmidt

MILTON — Milton will require its non-union employees to pay 5 percent of their insurance premiums next year, the city council decided at a budget workshop Tuesday night.

The council also decided late Tuesday to delay a scheduled 3 percent wage increase for non-union employees from Jan. 1 to July 1. The changes in wages and insurance will save the city $22,000 in its 2010 budget.

The council directed Administrator Todd Schmidt to open emergency negotiations with the city’s unions to ask for the same concessions.

Other actions taken after the Gazette’s Tuesday deadline include:

-- Reinstating three summer employees to the Department of Public Works budget, adding $9,00 back into the budget. Earlier in the night, the council had voted to eliminate those positions.

-- Fulfilling the original request from the Milton Police Department for two new police positions at 20 hours a week each. The council discussed eliminating one of the new positions, for a possible savings of $18,000, but decided to keep both.

The proposed budget now stands at $4.07 million, a 2.4 percent increase from 2009. The proposed levy stands at $2.63 million, a 7.7 percent increase from 2009.

The council will continue to refine the budget at its regular meeting Tuesday. Schmidt expects a draft budget to be ready for the public by the end of next week in advance of a Monday, Nov. 30, public hearing.