Dues Proposal 
Ballots to be distributed April 11th
Ballots Due April 25th
To be discussed at
General Membership Meeting
April 23, 2008
2:00 pm, H 507



Treasurer's Report (9/1/06-8/31/07)

Dues Proposal

Rational for Dues Proposal: 
     Projected Costs and Revenue for Current Year
               Revenue Source
               5 Year Total Salary
               Individual Salary Percent Increase, 5 Year History
      Cost History: 5 Year Percentage Increases for NYSUT & Dental
 
 
 


TREASURER’S REPORT

9/1/06 – 8/31/07


Opening Balance: $  64,276
Income
F/T Dues: $224,017
Adjunct Dues:  $  12,705
Dental Payments (1) $  21,541
Transfer (2): $  57,862
TOTAL
$380,401
Expenditures NYSUT/AFT DUES: $120,905
Dental:  $150,300
Stipends (3): $  17,744
Arbitrations: $    1,969
Miscellaneous (4): $    7,350
BALANCE AS OF 9/1/07: 
$  82,133
(1) Payments made by faculty carrying family dental coverage.  These payments represent the difference betwwen individual coverage, which is included in full dues, and the cost of coverage for family members.
(2) Transfer of unexpended Full-time Health Care Support Fund to General Fund
(3) Under the CBA, the Union recieves a total of nine contact hours of release time for the officers to carry out their duties.  There are five elected officers.  Three years ago,the membership approved the awarding of stipends in the amount of three contact hours per semester to the officers who could not receive release time.
(4) Including membership meetings and parties, retiree gifts, stamps, etc.
OTHER ASSETS:

Certificate of Deposit maturing in January, 2008 - $52,500

Excluding the one-time transfer, the Union ran at an operating deficit of $42,527 for the 2006-2007 Academic Year













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A Proposal to Change the Dues Structure

Dear Colleagues,

As you know, a recent proposal to both increase dues and change the dues structure was narrowly defeated in the Fall of 2007 by a vote of 44 in favor, 53 against.  Discussions in the Executive Committee of your Union led to two conclusions:

1) The proposed restructuring of the dues was a cause of concern for the membership

2) The low vote count (representing about one-third of eligible voters) indicated a failure to appraise the membership of the seriousness of the issue.

The underlying premise of the original proposal has not changed:
Your Union is operating on an annual deficit of approximately $55,000 per year!

This deficit arises from paying premiums on dental insurance!

This is a Union provided benefit which 86% of the full time faculty utilize (226 out of 262). 

Based upon these considerations, the Executive Committee of the Union has unanimously decided to place the following options before the membership for a vote:

BALLOT QUESTION:


OPTION 1:
a) Raise full dues (union dues + dental) from 1.25% of base salary to 1.55% of base salary
b) Agency Fee rate (dues alone or no union membership) remains at 0.75% 
c) Raise adjunct dues from $35/semester to $45/semester.

or

Option 2:
a) Cancel dental coverage
b) Agency Fee rate (dues alone or no union membership) remains at 0.75% 
c) Raise adjunct dues from $35/semester to $45/semester.
 
 
 

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Rational for Dues Proposal
Projected Revenue and Expenditures for the Current Year

 
This proposal is based upon reviewing the following facts:

Going forward, our dental insurance contract expires on June first, and a new contract is certain to contain a per person rate increase.  Also, NYSUT has just sent the Union Treasurer notification that the NYSUT/AFT dues structure is also going up significantly next year:
 
 

 
 Full-Time
 Adjunct
Current: 
$45.84/month
$79.13/year
2008-09
$47.74/month
$82.85/year
Percent Change:
4.14%
4.70%

     This proposal was arrived at after reviewing the financial information on the following page.  Any differences between the information below and information previously presented arise from the following:

 1) The Administration has finally given the Union Full Time salary data which was actually due to us on October 1.

2) With 7 months completed in our fiscal year, we have a more realistic view of expenditures for the entire year

The data is also presented in a way that separates dental costs, and the 0.50% of Full Dues designed to cover such costs, from other items

Projected 2007-2008 expenses (less dental)

NYSUT/AFT Dues (to rise by ~4.1% next year): ($130,500)
Stipends: ($ 17,000)
Miscellaneous: ($ 10,000)
TOTAL: ($157,500)
Revenue:
Current Dues:
F/T regular dues at 0.75% of total salary (1) $154,011
Est. Adjunct Dues at $35/semester $ 13,000
TOTAL: $167,011
Proposed:
F/T regular dues at 0.75%(1) $154,011
Est. Adjunct Dues at $45/Semester  $  16,700
TOTAL: $170,711
Dental:
Current Premiums (less family payments)(2,3) $131,000
Dues to dental(4) $ 76,000
TOTAL: ($ 55,000)
Proposed: 
Increase Full dues with Dental to 1.55%
Estimated dues to dental(5) $141,280

1) Dues collected based upon a total full time salary of $20,534,859 for the 2007-2008 academic year.
2) The cost of additional coverage for full family or individual + one is billed directly to the faculty member by the Union on a six month basis.  The billing represents the actual cost of this additional coverage.  Therefore, the $24,325 billed to faculty is not included in revenue and the same total is subtracted from the actual dental premium payments for the purposes of dues calculations.
3) Dental premiums for June, July and August will be at a new rate which is not presently know,  The current premiums are calculated herein based upon projecting the current monthly premium payments (less family coverage) over a 12 month period.
4) Actual dues for current year ($230,000 projected on current receipts) minus 0.75% of current total base salary.
5) Method of Estimation:  Approximately 86% of F/T faculty are on the dental plan, therefore, dues dedicated to dental would represent 0.80% (1.55% dues+dental – 0.75% dues) of 86% of total base salary.  
 
 
 
 


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Revenue Source

The majority of Union revenue comes from full time dues which are a percentage of base payroll. As long-serving Full Professors retired and are replaced by lower paid new Assistant Professors, this total shifts drastically on an annual basis, despite the fact that individual salaries increase each year.

Presently, 31% of faculty are age 60 or older, 15% are age 65 or older


TOTAL SALARY
Year
Total Base Salary
% Change
Tenured/Non-Ten. (%)
2003-‘04
$18,521,703
+5.77%
124/132 (48.4%)
2004-‘05
$19,032,729
+2.83%
143/117 (55%)
2005-‘06
$19,478,860(1)
+2.29%
154/101 (60.4%)
2006-‘07
$18,385,683
-5.95%
148/112 (56.9%)
2007-‘08
$20,534,859
+11.69
Net Change, 2003-‘08
+10.87%
 

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INDIVIDUAL SALARY INCREASES
 
Year
Raise
 
 
2003-‘04
4.55%*
 
 
2004-‘05
4.00%
 
 
2005-‘06
4.00%
 
 
2006-‘07
4.00%
 
 
2007-‘08
4.00%
 
Net Change, 2003-‘07
22.31%
 
*Including parity adjustment won with respect to CW Post Faculty














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Cost History
 
Year
Percentage Increase
 
   
NYSUT
Dental
 
 
2003-2004
3.68%
-21.4%(1)
 
 
2004-2005
3.55%
0%(1)
 
 
2005-2006
3.91%
8.56%
 
 
2006-2007
4.55%
7.53%
 
 
2007-2008
4.14%
11.9%(2)
 
Cumulative Increase 
+21.46%
+2.3%
 

(1) A two year contract was signed with Aetna, a new carrier, providing savings over Horizon.
(2) Also a two year contract
 
 
 

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