by Steve Wiandt
Reporter
Cuyahoga Falls -- Have public sector unions outlived their usefulness and are they contributing to the city's rising costs? Mayor Don L. Robart asked that in his State of the City address Feb. 24.
Robart opened his speech with a recap of last year's address when he said he warned of the "storm clouds that were forming overhead" and the impact the recession was having on the city's budget. Sponsored by the Cuyahoga Falls Chamber of Commerce, the State of the City luncheon took place at the Sheraton Suites with approximately 150 in attendance.
"I expressed concern that with payrolls being essentially locked in, due to mandatory collective bargaining, at 3 percent and health care costs rising between 12 and 15 percent, it was only a matter of time before the economic bubble would burst," said Robart. "Little did I know that the imminent burst was only months away."
Robart posed the question, "Is it time to eliminate public sector unions?"
This year, the city is going into negotiations with all six of its public employee unions, Robart said. "We do not anticipate these negotiations will be easy," he said, "however, with a keen eye on fiscal responsibility, the administration will be resolute in its demands to lower expenses."
Robart said that payroll is an "obvious" area in which to look at possible cuts because it represents 75 to 80 percent of the general fund.
"To just get rid of organizations that protect employees, that's certainly not going to solve the problem he's talking about," said Chris Martin, president of local International Association of Fire Fighters union. Martin, who was not at the Sheraton to hear Robart's speech but read it online, said he found the mayor's comments "profoundly disappointing."
"I knew that's where he stood with labor," said Martin. "He's a conservative Republican. That's how they all feel. I wonder what the motivation is."
Robart admitted in his speech that when the federal workforce was allowed unionization in 1962 "the American workforce landscape looked very different." Robart said public sector unions create a "self-reinforcing cycle of higher spending and taxes. The union helps elect politicians who repay the union with more pay and benefits and dues-paying members, who in turn help to re-elect those politicians."
He continued, saying, "Due to the collective bargaining process, the unions have the ability of rejecting the city's proposal [and] taking it to the next step called 'fact-finding.' If the union does not like what the fact finder recommends, the next step is binding conciliation. There, both sides list their respective demands and only one is picked." Robart said a conciliator could rule the city has to match what other cities are doing and give 4 or 5 percent raises.
"To say that negotiations here in Cuyahoga Falls are dictated at all by politics or neighboring cities' payrolls, it just is not true," said Martin. "It doesn't affect our negotiations at all, and hasn't, historically." The firefighters did not get a 3 percent raise, he said, and medical costs are up between 7 and 9 percent.
The city's two main sources of revenue are property taxes and income taxes, Robart said, and last year both of these revenue sources declined. Summit County's 2009 sexennial update on property values translates into a loss to the city of more than $3 million over the next three years, Robart said.
The city historically sees an annual increase in income tax revenue of 1 to 2 percent, the mayor said, however, the city saw in 2009 its income tax decline by $504,000 over 2008. Robart added that the city's third source of income, interest on reserve funds, has dropped to $547,000 from $2.2 million in 2000.
To address drops in revenue, the city mandated that the non-bargaining employees accept a wage freeze along with six furlough days and where applicable ceased the ability to sell back vacation and sick leave. City officials then asked the employee unions to agree to the same concessions in their contracts. "I am proud of the AFSCME union which was the first union to step forward and agree to our proposal," said Robart. "Our Fire union, the UWUA electric union and finally the dispatchers, followed shortly.
"Unfortunately, we did not get concessions from the two police unions, which necessitated the loss of three patrolmen and a community service officer. Additionally, four sergeants were reduced to patrolman status."
Martin agreed contract negotiations will be less than "easy" this time around. "We always negotiate with the nature of the economy in mind, but how can we have a working relationship when the other side of the table feels that we shouldn't even exist. If you don't even think I should exist, then how are we bargaining on a level playing field?"
Contract negotiations are "tough" every three years, Martin said, but the comments Robart made will make them "almost impossible."
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