Trustees cancel freeze on wages for police

The move came after the township learned of additional tax money.
By MARY SMITH
VINDICATOR CORRESPONDENT
MINERAL RIDGE -- Weathersfield Township trustees rescinded an agreement approved by police and trustees Sept. 2 for a wage freeze for police until March 1, 2006.
The concessions' agreement approved by the trustees and the police union was made in hopes of avoiding layoffs or demotions in the department, which were taken in an effort to save money this year.
Trustees had discussed having to place a police levy on the May 2005 ballot.
Fred Bobovnyk, trustee board vice chairman, said after Tuesday's meeting that the police asked that the concessions be reversed. The police used a clause in the agreement that allowed either side to withdraw from it.
Bobovnyk said police are aware of a recent unexpected increase in personal tangible property tax and other kinds of tax revenue trustees learned about in October. The township stands to net an excess of $450,000 in additional revenue this year.
The money has been allocated to the various township funds by percentage, as all tax income must be, Bobovnyk said.
Township Administrator David Pugh said the savings from the concessions actually were going to save the township about $50,000 annually.
Trustees noted that one police officer out of the nine has resigned to take another job. He will not be replaced.
The concessions also affected Police Chief Joseph Consiglio and Capt. Michael Naples, who are under administrative contracts, who also gave up 50 percent of their uniform cleaning allowance.
Additional changes
Other changes had been reclassification of six part-time offices who were being paid $8.50 an hour to reserve officers, who are paid nothing; reducing the uniform allowance starting in January 2005 from $250 a year to $125 a year; cutting township-paid uniform cleaning in half; and stopping longevity payments from Jan. 1, 2005, to Jan. 1, 2006.
The longevity payments, based on the years of service, usually run the township $1,000 every six months.
Another concession was reducing overtime by 50 percent for full-time officers.
Some residents at the meeting were critical of trustees for not knowing the additional tax money was coming in October, citing the fact that the school district knew in February that the funds were coming.
One resident produced documents he had obtained from the office of Trumbull County Treasurer David Hines showing that additional funds would be available to the township, but trustees insisted they were not informed of that earlier.
Clerk David Rouhan said, "The township doesn't bill for taxes; the county treasurer does that. When any individual or business doesn't pay taxes, we don't know that."