Union Expresses Concern With Quinn Bill Calculations

With a special Town Meeting set to vote on funding $427,000 in retroactive educational incentives for eligible police officers, the police union has told town officials that it disagrees with the town's calculations on the payments owed.

In an e-mail sent to Town Administrator Greg Balukonis and the Board of Selectmen on Friday at 5:29 p.m., Teamsters Local 25 business agent Thomas Mari, who represents the police union, said the union wanted to make it clear that it believes the numbers the town provided are not correct. Mari also said the town has not accounted for outside details, interest or treble damages in its calculation of the $427,000 owed retroactively to July 1, 2009, to officers under the Quinn Bill.

The union has hired its own accountant to review records, but that analysis has not been completed, Mari wrote in his e-mail, which was reviewed by North Reading Patch.

The special Town Meeting to vote on funding the retroactive payments is today at the auditorium at 7 p.m. A quorum of 150 people is needed to vote on the matter.

A Middlesex Superior Court judge ruled in December that the town had to fully fund educational incentives owed to eligible police officers under the Quinn Bill. The town argued that it should not have to fund the state's portion when reimbursements to municipalities had been sharply reduced.

In his e-mail, Mari said the union met with Balukonis more than a month ago and presented what it believed were "serious possibilities on how to settle this without further prolonged litigation that would work for both sides." Mari wrote that Balukonis chose to disregard the union's thoughts and has made no attempt to settle.

Mari also wrote that the union and its members believe Balukonis has given them no other choice but to take "any and all legal action" to ensure officers are made whole. 

Mari did not respond to follow-up inquiries as to whether litigation would be forthcoming or why the union believes the town should have considered outside details, interest and treble damages in its calculations.

Reached over the weekend, Balukonis said the calculation of retroactive payments are not a negotiation and are based on actual payroll data from July 1, 2009, through January 2011. 

"The town has professional and competent staff that works on payroll matters full time," Balukonis said. "These individuals are highly qualified based on their expertise and knowledge of how police officers are paid under the Quinn Bill. There is no settlement, as the union suggests."

Balukonis said the town presented its estimates to the union more than a month ago and has since offered to review the methodology used in the calculation. He said the union has not presented him with specific figures it believes to be correct.

During a March 7 public hearing on the matter, Board of Selectmen Chairman Robert Mauceri said the town would revise any calculation errors if they were brought forward, but he believed the numbers were correct.

Selectman Sean Delaney, vice chairman of the Board of Selectmen, said he was disappointed that the town received the notice on the Friday night before Town Meeting. 

"I know the town has been working diligently on these numbers," Delaney said. "We've actually adjusted the numbers up on a couple of occasions. It's curious to me why on a Friday night before Town Meeting they don't agree with the town on these numbers."

Delaney said during last week's public hearing that he assumed the town and the union were in agreement on the $427,000 figure when no member of the union in attendance spoke against it. Mari was not present at that March 7 meeting.

"I thought that was terrific," Delaney said. "I thought that would have been the last opportunity to say we didn't agree."

During a Feb. 16 Board of Selectmen meeting, Mari told town officials the union was willing to work on the Quinn Bill issue.

"We want to fix it forever," Mari said at the meeting. "If we can work it out, we’re willing to do that."

Balukonis said he is willing to speak with Mari on Monday to hear his concerns regarding the calculations.