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Indian River County Commissioners July 8,2019 Page three of four The parties presented their respective positions to Special Magistrate Dennis Campagna on April 5, 2019. The Special Magistrate thereafter issued his Report and Recommendations. Specifically, the Special Magistrate recommended the following: 1. Increase the starting base wage rate to$42,000; 2. Those Deputies hired on or after April 30, 2018 shall have their salary adjusted from $38,950 to $42,000 effective the first full pay period of October 2018. Those Deputies having one year of service shall have their salaries increased to $43,000 and that any remaining funds be paid to any such Deputy in a lump sum fashion. 3. Bargaining Unit members hired before April 30, 2018 and unaffected by (2) above shall receive a 4.3% increase in their base salary; 4. Increase the top salary by 4.3%resulting in a new top salary of$65,867; 5. Move those bargaining unit members who have at least 20 years of experience with the County to an annual salary of$63,151; Those bargaining unit members who were at the top of the pay grade($63,151)shall move to the new top salary of$65,867. As previously mentioned, I filed with the Florida Public Employees Relations Commission a written rejection of the recommendations of the Special Magistrate in their entirety for the following reasons: 1. Although the Special Magistrate agreed with raising the starting salary for Deputies to $42,000, he largely rejected the Sheriff's mechanism for dealing with the resulting compression problems that would be created if those existing Deputies at the lower end of the pay scale did not have their salaries raised in an associated manner. Specifically, the Special Magistrate agreed with the Sheriffs proposal to raise the pay of Deputies hired after April 30, 2018 from $38,950 to $42,000, but made an exception for those with more than one year of experience by raising those Deputies to $43,000. Also, the Special Magistrate rejected the Sheriffs proposal to raise the salaries of those existing Deputies hired after April 30, 2017 from $38,950 to $42,500, instead recommending that their salaries be raised by the lower amount of 4.3%. These recommendations of the Special Magistrate would not adequately address the compression issues for existing employees at the lower end of the pay scale inherent in raising the starting salary to $42,000. 2. Although the Special Magistrate recommended that the starting rate for Deputies, as well as the salaries for Deputies hired on or after April 30, 2018 and those Deputies having one year of service, all be raised, he recommended that the raise be made retroactive to the first full pay period of October 2018. The Sheriff rejects the retroactive component of this recommendation as the Sheriff gave the Union the opportunity to accept raises for employees in these categories back in November of 2018 as an incentive to settle the contract consistent with what the other Unions at the Sheriffs Office had agreed to. The Sheriff made this offer with the specific understanding that if it were to be rejected, the Sheriff would take the position in the impasse process that any increase in salary to these bargaining unit members would not be made retroactive. To accept the Special Magistrate's recommendation in this regard would be to give the Union, and indeed all other Unions at the Sheriffs Office, little incentive in the future to voluntarily resolve contract issues. 3