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by Monica Lundquist

Cass Correspondent



BACKUS - Business agents of all six unions that represent Cass County employees met for the first time with the county board in a meeting open to the public Friday.

This was one segment of the board's annual planning retreat. The county's three-year union contracts will expire the end of 2010. Negotiations are expected to begin in July.

County Administrator Robert Yochum said the first question the county and unions will have to address during negotiations will be whether to consider multi-year contracts again or a single-year contract or to postpone final agreements that would be retroactive to Jan. 1, 2011, until after the 2011 state legislative session concludes.

Another question to consider is whether any contracts settled before Jan. 1, 2011, should have a re-opener clause, Yochum said.

Historically, Cass County has had a minimum of wage negotiation arbitrations (following inability to reach agreement), he said, adding he hopes to work with unions to avoid that again for 2011.

Board Chair Jim Demgen told the union representatives no one on the board wants to see a property tax levy increase in 2011. That means no employee raises, he said.

With residents facing foreclosures and job layoffs, Demgen said the public has no sympathy for (government employee) raises.

Assessor Mark Peterson said he expects a slight property tax base reduction in 2011 after many years of increases. This could lower the amount of money a constant levy generates.

This year marks the first time Cass County used a clause in union contracts to mandate that employees take 64 hours time off without pay to offset what otherwise would have been a 3 percent pay raise. Yochum said Friday the county will look at when it can restore that pay. Until Friday, many had assumed the 64 hours pay was permanently lost.

Though union and board discussion wandered into a couple comments on specific contract language, Yochum redirected discussion to broader views, saying while the county did not use $600,000 of the money set aside to offset 2010 state cuts, the county stands to lose over $1 million in basic state aids when the Legislature tackles its $5.5 billion 2011 deficit. That does not include the potential loss of payments in lieu of tax or program-specific state human service money.

When Kari Seime, Teamsters Local 320 representing assistant attorneys, asked whether employees could expect 2011 health insurance increases to lower their net if pay did not increase, Chief Financial Officer Larry Wolfe said the county's self-insurance fund has had two years of low claims. It's likely, there will be zero to 1 percent increased health benefit costs in 2011, he said.

Seime said she has found southwestern Minnesota counties remain flush with funds, while north central Minnesota counties are struggling more with their budgets. Only probationers have experienced layoffs in county attorney offices, she said, partly as technology has replaced some court reporters. More people are taking voluntary time off statewide, she added.

Chris Kapella, American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees that represents courthouse employees, said workers in her union have experienced some layoffs and some vacancies unfilled. This has led to morale problems among that union's employees, she said.

Yochum said Cass has reduced staff about 10 percent since the recession began. Eleven positions were direct layoffs, he said.

After years of increases, Cass has lost population since the recession, he said. Calls for service from the county are down in most departments other than law enforcement and human services, he said.

"We're about as well positioned as anybody to deal with changes and budget challenges," Yochum said. "We will need new answers to old questions," he said, going into 2011.[[In-content Ad]]

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