At its November 19 meeting, the Cornwall Town Board unanimously authorized Supervisor Josh Wojehowski to sign a memorandum of agreement with CSEA Unit 7924, of Orange County Local 836. The supervisor said the negotiations, which have taken place for the last several months, were “pretty productive” and the new contract “corrects some longtime pay disparities”. He also said that the new pay scale will help address “some of the inflationary issues that we’ve had”.

Salary increases are “roughly 19 percent over the life of the contract,” he said, adding that the town’s recently adopted budget “reflects this contract being put into place”.

Wojehowski also said the salary increases reflected in the contract “are on track with what other county and municipalities have done” recently.

The salary increases in the new contract are: 6 percent increases in January 2025, 5.5 percent in January 2026, and 4 percent in Januarys of 2027 and 2028. The contract also increases police dispatcher salaries by $2 an hour, at all steps, effective January 2025.

Other expenses to the town are $250 annual safety shoe allowances and $500 clothing allowances for those who require those items. There are other changed matters in the contract – it’s available to view on the town’s website, cornwallny.gov.

Wojehowski said the public had a chance to look at it prior to the adoption.

The current contract with the CSEA was set to expire on December 31. The new document, when signed by both Wojehowski and the CSEA president, runs through January 31, 2028.