Merced County approves $1.14 billion budget, reaches agreement with union workers

The Merced County Board of Supervisors voted to approve a $1.14 billion budget for the 2024-2025 fiscal year Tuesday and came to an agreement on healthcare, avoiding a possible strike by some county workers.

Supervisors voted unanimously to approve the $1.14 billion budget, which was $4.3 million more than the budget proposed this past June.

During Tuesday’s meeting, the board also voted unanimously to approve a 4.18% increase to the county’s 2025 healthcare premiums for all medical plans as well as a change to the plans offered to county employees. The county will also increase the amount it contributes to plans.

New plans offered by Public Risk Innovation Solutions and Management Health or PRISM, include an Anthem 500 or low cost plan, Anthem 1500 plan, Anthem High Deductible Health Plan with a Health Savings Account and an Anthem High Deductible Health Plan without a Health Savings Account. Any employees who do not choose a plan during the open enrollment period will automatically be enrolled in Anthem 1500 plan.

The Anthem 200 plan will no longer be available to county employees effective Jan. 1, 2025.

District 4 Supervisor Lloyd Pareira said during the meeting, that the board had heard from several county employees during town halls held this past spring who were seeking relief from rising health care costs.

“We did our due diligence and so we raised the caps and that is to the tune of $3.5 million per year,” said Pareira. “Dependent on where they end up. But the employees will gain in their checks $3.5 million this next year.”

Pareira went on to say that it is disheartening to have the employees come to the meeting saying the county is doing nothing for wages. The $3.5 million dollars will be paid not by the employees, but rather by Merced County taxpayers, according to Pareira.

“To ask for a wage increase is fine, but to not acknowledge what we did do, it just kind of stings a little bit,” said Pareira.

During the meeting, the board also approved a 1-year Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with bargaining units 4, 5, 6 and 8 represented by labor union AFSCME Local 2703.

Included in the MOU are adjustments to the health care caps, creation of a telework policy and vacation sell back along with other adjustments to the Human Resources Rules and Regulations or Salary Allocation Resolution outlined in the MOU.

“Our members have dedicated eleven months to advocating for fair wages and real change in Merced County. Yet again, the Board of Supervisors has chosen to balance the budget on the backs of hardworking county employees,” said AFSCME Local 2703 President Jerald Phelps in a statement to the Merced Sun-Star on Wednesday.

“They would have you believe labor is the problem, but they conveniently overlook that the $3.5 million allocated for employee medical benefits was distributed to all, not just those who have not seen a pay increase. When employees are contemplating living in their cars and relying on food banks, the County should not be celebrating this as a win.”

According to Phelps, the fight is not over.

“AFSCME will continue to stand up for our members until they can afford to care for not only themselves but their families as well. We urge Merced County residents to question whether their elected representatives are truly committed to leading us forward or merely driving us into further hardship,” Phelps said.

This past July, more than 90% of Merced County employees represented by the AFSCME 2703 labor union voted to authorize a strike after months of failed negotiations between Merced County leaders and union representatives.

It was the first time members of the labor union, which represents more than 1,000 county employees, had authorized a strike since 1989. At the time, AFSCME Local 2703 President Jerald Phelps said the vote to authorize the strike did not mean that a strike would take place.

In July, Phelps said rising healthcare costs and employee wages were some of the main issues representatives brought to the bargaining table when sitting down with county representatives. Phelps said employees were told in 2023 their healthcare costs would increase by more than 12%, effectively erasing any pay increase workers had received in the years prior. In July, Phelps said union representatives were told by the county that it did not have the money to increase employee wages.

In April of this year, the county increased base pay by 10% as well as an increase of 10% in medical coverage when it reached a tentative agreement with the Merced County Deputy Sheriff’s Association.