PARIS — Oxford County commissioners and sheriff’s deputies are close to signing a new contract for the first time in four years, according to representatives.

Both sides said they’ve reached a tentative framework and have finalized major points of contention such as wages. 

“We’re in the home stretch,” Teamsters Local 340 representative Ray Cote said. 

Over a month ago, representatives for the deputies expressed frustration that county officials had rejected a mediation panel’s recommendation on raises and wages. 

Cote said it looks as though the parties will sidestep the final process in unsettled negotiations and could have a contract signed soon.

“At this point, we have a tentative agreement that still needs to be voted on by both parties,” he said.

County commissioners were expected to sign the contract Wednesday evening but that plan was scrapped after county Administrator Scott Cole said there was a last-minute misunderstanding. 

“We’re not in disagreement over anything. There were a few misunderstandings that have come up at the very end,” he said. 

Deputies patrol 36 towns and 19 organized and unorganized townships. Since December 2011, they have worked under the terms of the old agreement, which effectively locked wages in place. 

Deputies contend raises are necessary to keep up with the cost of living, and that starting wages are among the lowest compared to neighboring counties. Starting pay is $14.97 an hour, the second-lowest among five neighboring counties, though most deputies earn well above that.  

Last July, the dispute came to a head after deputies picketed in the parking lot outside the county courthouse in South Paris. 

In March, a three-member panel from the Maine Labor Relations Board issued a nonbinding recommendation that deputies receive a $2-an-hour raise retroactive to July 2014, effectively splitting the difference between the county’s offer and deputies’ demand. 

The panel also recommended subsequent 2½ percent raises the next year, and a 3 percent raise in the third year. It also recommended an immediate $2,250 payment to union employees, and an additional 50 cents per hour for those working night shifts.

The raises, according to the panel, are in line with the county’s ability to pay, given their fiscal condition and $800,000 annually from the Oxford Casino. The county contends those funds should be used to hold down the property tax rate. 

ccrosby@sunmediagroup.net