KALISPELL — Flathead County Commissioners voted unanimously on Monday, Jan. 13 in favor of signing a new collective bargaining agreement (CBA) with the county’s sheriff’s deputies.
The vote comes after the sheriff’s deputies voted to approve the CBA in early December after 16 months of negotiations between the county and the deputies.
The new agreement is effective through December 2025. The contract contains financial benefits for being on call, working the night shift, and K9 care among other allowances.
The deputies approved the agreement despite there being no wage increase, which community members expressed support for during Monday's hearing.
Flathead County Sheriff Brian Heino says that without a wage increase in the budget, many deputies work overtime due to staffing shortages.
“So we are lower staffed than probably any large county in the state of Montana so with that you supplement that with calling people in on overtime, Heino said. “It’s how we create public safety it’s when we have major incidents we have to call people in on overtime.”
In a statement, Flathead County Deputy Sheriff Association President Charles Pesola says they're pleased with the announcement.
"While the agreement does not include a wage increase for deputies, it incorporates provisions that will provide financial benefits to our deputies at little or no additional cost to taxpayers. We are grateful to the Commissioners for finalizing this agreement and look forward to continuing conversations in future negotiations to address base pay concerns."
Sheriff Heino agrees saying a pay increase needs to be discussed.
“I think it was a starting point, we have twelve months now to look at these things again and hopefully look at further discussions as we move forward.”
The full CBA can be found here.
