YOUNGSTOWN Deputies ratify pact with a rise in health co-payments

YOUNGSTOWN -- Mahoning County deputy sheriffs have ratified a new labor contract containing a sharp increase in their contributions toward their health-care premiums.
The deputies, who had been working without a contract for 15 months, approved a three-year agreement by a vote of 97-49.
The contract will expire at the end of 2005.
There are no pay raises in the first or second year, but there is a wage reopener next year, said Glenn Kountz, president of Fraternal Order of Police Lodge 141. Deputies earn between $25,500 and $37,000 a year.
As soon as Mahoning County commissioners ratify the agreement, monthly health-care contributions will rise from $6 for everyone to $28 for the single plan and $61 for the family plan, he said. Commissioners have 30 days to accept or reject the agreement.
"It's the best possible agreement we could work out at this time, given the economic situation in the county," Kountz said.