Pay raises to create need for more cash
The largest portion will go to nonunion administrators if 3 percent raises are ongoing.
By HAROLD GWIN
VINDICATOR EDUCATION WRITER
YOUNGSTOWN -- Youngstown State University will have to come up with an additional $1.6 million over the next three years to cover salary increases given to three employee groups.
The YSU Board of Trustees ratified new three-year contracts last month with its Association of Professional/Administrative Staff and Fraternal Order of Police unions, granting APAS annual pay raises of 3.5 percent, 3.5 percent and 3 percent and the FOP raises of 3 percent, 3 percent and 3.25 percent annually.
The trustees were also informed that nonunion administrative personnel (including vice presidents, deans and department managers) will be getting a 3 percent wage increase this year.
That's not guaranteed beyond one year, but, traditionally, that group receives about the same annual percentage increase as the APAS employees, according to the university.
APAS has 115 full-time equivalent employees, the FOP has 23 and the nonunion personnel total 160.
Salary increases for those three groups for the first year will cost about $519,000.
Projected over the life of the contracts and assuming the nonunion administrative personnel continue to get 3 percent increases, the estimated cost will reach slightly more than $1.6 million, said Beth Kushner, planning and administration officer in the office of vice president for administration.
The largest share of that, just over $1 million, will go to the 160 nonunion administrators. APAS will get $487,000, while the FOP total will be $115,000.
Health costs
Those numbers will be somewhat mitigated by the employee groups picking up some of their health care costs for the first time.
APAS members will begin paying 1.5 percent of their base salary for family health care insurance or 0.75 percent for individual coverage beginning Jan. 1, 2007. The FOP will begin paying the same level of contributions on April 1, 2007.
Some of the nonunion administrators began paying 10 percent of their health-care premium costs as of Jan. 1, 2005. The rest began paying the 1.5 percent or 0.75 percent premium contribution Jan. 1 of this year.
The university was unable to provide immediate estimates on how much those contributions will total for the three groups.
New three-year contracts ratified last summer with the 380-member faculty and 400-member classified employee unions are requiring the university to come up with an additional $5.2 million to cover increases over the lives of those agreements.
That would be the additional cost after the faculty and classified employees pay the same premium-sharing percentages for health-care insurance found in the APAS and FOP agreements.
The university estimated at the time that the faculty contribution will amount to $827,000, while the classified employees would contribute $414,000 for heath care over the lives of their contracts.
Classified employees begin making the contributions on Aug. 15 of this year, while the faculty begins paying with the fall term which begins Aug. 28.
gwin@vindy.com