Pending final approval by the full Genesee County Legislature, members of the Civil Service Employees Association Inc. local chapter of county employees will be receiving a raise in the middle of a previously negotiated contract period.
Acting on a resolution proposed by County Manager Matt Landers, the legislature’s Ways & Means Committee on Wednesday voted in favor of granting a 2.25 percent pay increase for 2022 on top of the 2.25 percent increase the CSEA, Local 1000, AFSCME, Genesee County Unit 6950, Local 819 is receiving as part of a four-year agreement that started on Jan. 1, 2020.
“To stay competitive, we needed to provide this wage increase,” Landers said, referring to the part of the resolution that emphasizes that retention and recruitment of employees are crucial to services provided by the county.
The union consists of 272 employees across more than two dozen departments. Its contracted raise for 2023 is 2 percent and is not affected by this resolution, Landers said.
In related action, the committee supported using $86,000 in Community Mental Health Services Block Grant funding through the New York State Office of Mental Health to provide workforce retention incentives for eligible CSEA employees of the Genesee County Mental Health Department.
Authorization for this comes through the Federal Coronavirus Response and Relief Supplemental Appropriations Act of 2021.
The resolution forwarded to the full legislature also calls for incentive payments to eligible management staff of the department.
In other developments, the committee:
- Approved a request from Genesee Community College officials to apply to the State University of New York for funding of four capital projects at the campus: heating/ventilation/air conditioning system ($1.8 million), data room control unit ($300,000), gymnasium air handling unit ($450,000), touchless restrooms ($949,000).
According to the resolution, the college will pay for half of the total cost, $1,749,500, by using unallocated Higher Education Emergency Relief Funds and is asking the state to pay for the other half.
Genesee County acts as a pass-through in this transaction and is not required to pay any of the expenses of these projects.
- Approved a change order for $220,000 in the county’s contract with Randsco Pipeline of Macedon, effectively ending legal proceedings between the two entities over the costs of extensive work performed by Randsco on Phase 2 of the Countywide Water Project.
“This is the final payment that ends the contractual agreement,” Landers said, opting not to get into the specifics of the dispute, which was reported on The Batavian in October 2020.
Previously: County seeks outside legal advice regarding 'serious disputes' with water pipeline installation company
