Another round of concessions agreed to by members of the Fraternal Order of Police covering Summit County deputy sheriff's, with an eye toward keeping 15 of their fellow officers on the job.
The FOP said in a news release the concessions, worth over $350,000, will keep current staffing levels as is. The concessions were approved by "an overwhelming margin," according to the FOP.
In a seperate news release, Summit County Sheriff Drew Alexander listed the concessions as primarily choices deputies make regarding clothing allowances and said it would keep six deputies on the job.
News release - Fraternal Order of Police
Deputies of the Summit County Sheriff’s Office agreed yesterday to give back over $350,000 to their employer in order to prevent the layoff of 15 deputies, thereby maintaining the current level of law enforcement services provided by the Sheriff’s Office. The Deputies approved these givebacks by an overwhelming margin.
“This falls right in line with what FOP members have been doing all across this state to keep the doors open in law enforcement agencies. Public employees have given over one billion dollars in contractual concessions since 2008” said Jay McDonald, Fraternal Order of Police of Ohio President.
“I couldn’t be prouder of the deputies. They recognized the economic condition of Summit County, caused partially by the cuts in local government funds by Governor Kasich’s Budget, and acted in the best interest of the community that they serve” said Otto Holm, the Fraternal Order of Police / Ohio Labor Council Representative.
News release - Summit County Sheriff Drew Alexander
On Wednesday 11/2/2011, the Summit County Sheriff’s Office Deputies approved concessions to save the agency more than $350,000. The vote was passed by a 65% margin. These savings enabled the agency to avoid laying off up to 6 deputies in 2012.
The deputies will be able to choose one of three concession options. They may forgo their clothing allowance in 2012, forgo half of their clothing allowance in 2012 and take 3 cost savings days, or take 5 cost savings days.
The Sheriff’s Office Administration and the Deputies’ Bargaining Unit have worked very diligently together over the past few months to come up with the proposed concession options. The Sheriff’s Office’s budget was originally cut by 10%, which translated into approximately 1 million dollars. By not replacing departing employees and creatively trimming the budget, the million dollars in cuts needed to balance the budget was reduced to nearly $350,000. The concessions made by the deputies will save the agency the remaining amount.
