Lake Zurich approves firefighters contract

Lake Zurich firemen will receive modest salary increases over the next three years, but will also have to pay more for benefits under a new labor contract.

The new contract increases salaries by 1.75 percent the first year and by 2 percent each of the next two years. Lake Zurich officials could not say how much more the village would pay toward the increases, but some estimated it to cost more than $510,000 total.

“I think it is both pretty fair for the union and the village,” Village President Suzanne Branding said. “Nobody was overly hurt or overly helped.”

The contract lasts until April 30, 2014, and will affect 39 firemen. The village board, which approved the pact with a 5-0 vote Monday, spent nearly an hour-and-a-half in closed session discussing the matter.

Firemen covered under the HMO health care plan will be asked to contribute to their benefits costs, which they currently are not required to do, Branding said.

The salary increases are not expected to place an undue burden on the village’s finances. Branding said Lake Zurich had enough money in the budget to cover the increases, despite the fact the economy has hampered villages across Illinois in their ability to manage finances.

“For this amount, we were OK,” she said. “We budgeted for this.”