The Board of Selectmen has approved a contract that would give Public Works employees a 2.5 percent retroactive increase for the 2022-23 fiscal year, and 2.99 percent increases for the 2023-24 and 2024-25 fiscal years.

Meanwhile, the employee share of health insurance will go up by small amounts over the next three years, to 16 percent in 2022-23, 17 percent in 2023-24, and 17.5 percent in 2024-25.

“We’re trying to nudge that up to 20 percent over a couple of years,” said First Selectman Dan Rosenthal.

The contract offers a high deductible Health Savings Account (HSA) plan that he believes will be better for younger employees who do not expect large health claims; but most older employees or employees with families are unlikely to take that option.

The contract also changes some language around vacation time to make it more consistent with the town’s other contracts. The language does not fundamentally change how vacation time works.

“Those are really the key changes,” said Rosenthal.

The contract runs for three years, including retroactively to the end of the last contract, which expired in June 2022. The last contract was a four-year contract. Due to the fact that no contract was in place since mid year, the 2.5 percent pay increase for 2022 will be retroactive until July 1. Finance Director Bob Tait said it was approximately $30,000. The town has already budgeted expecting the increase, so no appropriation or transfer will be necessary to cover the raises for 2022-23.

Rosenthal said that the Public Works Union contract was the only open contract for this year. Next year the town will negotiate with the Parks & Recreation and municipal center employee unions, he said, adding he believes the town’s dispatch center is the following year.