Title
Subject: Communication sponsored by Alder Kelly requesting to refer the RPA version of the tentative agreement that was submitting to the attorney’s office on November 11, 2024 (with the healthcare language included), to be sent to Finance & Personnel for signature and adoption by council.
Staff Recommendation: The item should be received and filed, because the November 11, 2024, draft provided by the Racine Police Association is not a tentative agreement, is not properly formatted to be executed, is not consistent with the contractual terms negotiated by the parties, is not consistent with the contractual terms approved by the Common Council on March 21, 2023, and in part violates arbitrator and judicial decisions. Further, to implement the language in the November 11, 2024, draft provided by the Racine Police Association would incur substantial costs, exacerbating the City of Racine’s structural deficit and potentially leading to significant negative consequences for City operations.
Recommendation of the Finance and Personnel Committee on 03-10-2025: To Defer.
Fiscal Note: Several components of this proposal will have both a short term and long-term fiscal impact on the City of Racine. The true impact will require an actuarial evaluation; however, initial estimates of the impact exceed $15 million. The City’s most recent actuarial evaluation of our long-term retiree healthcare liability exceeds $200 million, of which over $70 million is associated with the Racine Police Association. The City of Racine Post Employment Healthcare Liability is the largest per capita in the State of Wisconsin WITHOUT these proposed changes. The changes proposed will increase this liability.