By FRANK MacEACHERN
WILTON — Wilton's firefighters will receive a 14 percent pay increase spread over the next four years, but will have to dig deeper into their pockets to pay for drugs and cover insurance premiums, according to a new tenative four-year contract.
The board of selectmen agreed to the deal at their meeting Monday night. The contract had already been ratified by the firefighters.
Both sides have yet to formally sign the deal.
The contract is backdated to July 1, 2007 and ends June 30, 2011.
The firefighters receive a 3.5 percent pay increase during each of the contract's four years.
Firefighters receive automatic pay increases during the first six years on the job. The increases come on the anniversary of their hire.
An entry level firefighter now make s $48,787 in his or her first year, with that figure rising to $51,129 and then $53,582, $56,156, $58,852 respectively in the following years. It tops out at $61,678 in the sixth and final year of increases.
The pay increases of 3.5 percent would now kick in on top of those pay scales with the new tentative contract.
There was give and take by both sides ,said Sarah Taffel, the town's director of human resources, labor relations, and administrative services
"You have to come to some kind of compromise that both parties can live with," she said Tuesday.
Firefighter David Chaloux, vice-president of Wilton Career Firefighters Local 2233, said the union will reserve comment on the deal until after it's formally signed. No date has been set for the signing.
Firefighters have agreed to contribute a greater portion of the health insurance premium, according to the tentative contract. In the current contract, firefighters contribute seven percent of the premium. The new contract calls for that to rise to seven-and-a-half percent in the first year and 8, 9 and 10 percent in each following year.
The premium for a firefighter opting for the family coverage is $22,855 per year, which is what the town pays the insurer.
For a firefighter opting for the couple coverage [which also includes same-sex relationships] the town is charged a premium of $18,200. The premium for a single firefighter is $8,465 per year.
There are also changes in drug coverage, which will cost firefighters more.
Under the previous contract firefighters have a co-pay of $3 for mail-order prescriptions and $5 co-pay for retail generics and a $10 co-pay for retail brand name drugs. The co-pays will rise in a range from $5 to $35 depending on whether the drugs are mail order, or retail, generic or brand name.
A mail-order prescription lasts 90 days while an in-store prescription lasts for 30 days, said Taffel.