Michigan City still hasn’t finalized contracts with its police and firefighters. The current ones expire at the end of the year.
City council member Bryant Dabney says neither side agreed to accept the other’s latest proposals. “This give and take is being forced on us, due to losses in certain funding and huge increases in the cost of things like insurance, proposed increases in salaries and equipment to run the city,” Dabney said during Tuesday's city council meeting.
Dabney pointed to “significant changes” to Indiana’s system of property and income taxes. He said Michigan City stands to lose $4.2 million in county income tax revenue for public safety, and the city’s casino money has dropped from more than $20 million a year to less than $10 million.
As it stands, the city wants to give police and firefighters the same two-percent raise it’s giving other city employees. A main sticking point appears to be health insurance benefits for retired police and firefighters. They currently have to pay a third of the cost, but the city has proposed raising retirees’ share to half.
Christopher Zibutis with Michigan City Firefighters Local 475 says firefighters are being asked to give up benefits they’ve had for decades to get the same raises other city employees have already been promised. “The city is trying to make it harder for our firefighters to work overtime, spend time with our families, maintain any sense of work-life balance, and we are being told to work more for less,” Zibutis told council members.
The police and fire unions also criticized the negotiation process itself. The police contract allowed for either side to start negotiations as soon as April, but the first meeting didn’t happen until October 30, according to Chris Bartak, a member of FOP Dunes Lodge 75’s wage committee.
“What recourse did we have?" Bartak asked. "The FOP doesn't have a fund set aside that we can use to hire an attorney to take civil action against the city for being in breach of contract, and by the nature of working in emergency services, we don't have the opportunity to strike.”
Dabney admitted the council’s labor committee could have met with the unions earlier to gather input, but he maintained that the city couldn’t negotiate in good faith until it knew how much money it had to work with. “For us to step out and make commitments without having all of the numbers would have been actually irresponsible to the city and irresponsible to police and fire because what would we have done, had to go back and ask them for that money back?” Dabney asked.
The city council was presented with placeholder ordinances, keeping this year’s police and fire salaries in place in 2026. But those can be updated before final approval, if new agreements are reached.
