Budget Commission Meeting Set for 3 p.m. Monday

Proposed enactments to the Woonsocket firefighters contract — currently awaiting the results of city and union negotiations — are included on the agenda for Monday afternoon's scheduled 3 p.m. budget commission meeting.

Also on the schedule for Monday's meeting, to be held in City Hall following an executive session starting at 2 p.m., are requests from Fire Chief Gary Lataille to pay into the city/union dental expenses budget and the union's life insurance account, and to award a contract for nitrile gloves for the fire department.

Public Works Director Sheila McGauvran is also expected to present requests to bid out for roof repairs and to pay for new primary sludge pumps at the wastewater treatment facility.

Council President John Ward and fire union President Michael Morin said last week that they had made some progress in negotiating potential concessions, and added that more discussions are expected once state Director of Revenue Rosemary Booth Gallogly returns from vacation in early August.

In the meantime, a supplemental tax bill intended to raise some $2.5 million is expected to go out within the next week or so — over the objections of state Sen. Marc Cote, who recently disputed the commission's claim of $1.1 million in savings from the enactments imposed on past police contracts.

At its meeting in April, the commission approved a set of changes to municipal contracts that would bring all city employees under the same health care plan and potentially save millions of dollars.

The commission on July 8 applied the so-called "enactments" to the expired police contract, with Commissioner Peder Schaefer saying the Budget Commission had managed to save $4.7 million through union concessions and the police contract changes.

But Cote explained that he feels the changes to the police contract may violate state law, and do not meet the General Assembly's requirement for the commission to cut $3.7 million through union negotiations.

Without the police enactments, the commission has found $3.6 million in savings, according to a recently-released spreadsheet.

Watch for coverage of Monday's budget commission meeting on Woonsocket Patch.