Health-care costs could decide if Mandan teachers and board members agree on a financial package.

The Mandan Education Association presented a counterproposal Wednesday to the Mandan School Board's proposal that was about $93,000 higher than the board's proposal of $2,595,723. It could be about the same, depending on projected healthcare costs for the next two years.

"We think we're pretty close to where you're at," MEA negotiation team member Jeannie Danielson said.

The proposals from both teams are for a two-year contract. The MEA would like to get the base salary for a first-year teacher to $30,000 per year over the next two years.

"We want to get to that psychological marker of $30,000," Danielson said. That salary combined with a shorter work day and calendar year makes the district attractive to teachers, she said.

The board's proposal was for a lump sum of money that the MEA could decide how to spend, so long as it included some specific costs. Those specific costs were co-curricular costs, Teacher Funds for Retirement costs, insurance costs, retirement buyout, sick leave buyout and increases to FICA.

"My intention is to offer everything we can while maintaining equity in the district," board negotiating team member Steve Nardello said.

The MEA negotiating team met in a closed session to create a counterproposal. The proposal provided $2.27 million to salary, co-curricular costs, TFFR costs and all insurance costs, but health insurance, and then $210,000 for retirement costs and half the amount of the insurance increase.

MEA team members requested the early retirement buyout be included in the negotiated agreement, to guarantee that teachers who retire during the two years of the agreement would not have a policy change take away their retirement benefits, as it did for 19 teachers denied early retirement for the 2006-07 school year.

"I'm remembering last year's retirees," MEA negotiation team member Randy Wilson said.

The cost of early retirement was included in both financial packages.

Half of the cost of health insurance is the unknown number. The MEA proposed paying half the increase through payroll deduction. So far, the health insurance is expected to increase 11 percent. The cost of insurance, however, could depend on whether the district stays with a self-funded plan or moves to a fully funded health insurance plan.

"It's a pretty big jump whether self-funded or fully funded," Nardello said.

For the purposes of negotiation, the MEA used the 11 percent increase based on all certified employees opting for a family plan.

For 240 employees, that would be about $405,800 over two years, and half would be about $202,400. The actual cost could be less because of employees who do not take health insurance and who take employee-only coverage instead of a family plan, in addition to the rate of increase being less, MEA negotiation member D'Aulan Bussman said.

The board negotiation team is taking the MEA proposal to business manager Joe Lukach and Superintendent Wilfred Volesky to run by the health insurance numbers and then the Mandan School Board will meet in executive session at a special meeting after the school board committee meetings Monday. The negotiating teams will meet again 6 p.m. Wednesday at Lewis and Clark Elementary School.

(Reach reporter Sara Kincaid at 250-8251 or sara.kincaid@;bismarcktribune.com.)