SCRANTON — The Lackawanna County Commissioners unanimously ratified a four-year contract Tuesday with the Service Employees International Union — the county’s largest union representing more than a quarter of its workforce – that will save the county $1.2 million in health care costs over the term, officials said.

The prior SEIU contract expired at the end of 2024 and negotiations ensued during the past year. The new four-year contract is retroactive to the beginning of 2025 and will run through 2028.

The savings of $1,241,894 will come about through the 237 SEIU employees for the first time paying deductibles for medical benefits in the latter three years of the contract, going from the current zero deductibles for single or family coverages, to $250 for single and $500 for a family plan.

Co-pays for doctor or hospital visits also will increase, as follows: from the current $5 to $20 for an office visit; from zero to $20 for a specialist; and from $5 to $30 for urgent care. The ER co-pay stays the same at $50.

The new contract also calls for SEIU members to get a 2% salary raise for 2025, retroactive, and then a 2.5% pay raise in 2026, and 3% raises in each of 2027 and 2028.

“This agreement is a major milestone for Lackawanna County,” Commissioner Bill Gaughan said during a special commissioner meeting held Tuesday to vote on ratifying the SEIU contract. “It is clear proof that responsible planning and disciplined leadership produce real results. This is not a gimmick or a one-time fix — these are real, structural savings that strengthen our financial foundation and protect taxpayers.”

Gaughan and Commissioners Chris Chermak and Thom Welby voted to ratify the contract. Afterward, acting as the county salary board at a separate special meeting, the commissioners voted 3-0 to approve the pay raises authorized under the SEIU contract.

Earlier this year, PFM Group Consulting LLC, the grant-supported financial consultant that’s been working with the county since early 2024, issued a long-term financial management plan calling for the county to better control workforce and personnel costs.

Employee health insurance costs are among the county’s fastest growing expenditures, according to PFM’s management plan, which noted the county is self-insured and absorbs the financial risk in years with higher health insurance claims usage.

Furthermore, Lackawanna County offered relatively high-cost health insurance plans and required relatively low employee contributions toward the cost of those plans, PFM’s report had said. It called on county officials to change plan offerings and cost-sharing structure by seizing opportunities to achieve more favorable terms during contract negotiations.

Regarding the 253 nonunion employees, the commissioners previously froze pay, increased health insurance copays and added deductibles. The nonunion health care savings from 2026-2028 will amount to $1,024,250.

Considered together, the county’s health care savings regarding nonunion and SEIU employees will total $2,266,144 over the next three years.

According to county information regarding the SEIU contract: the absence of deductibles is rare compared to other employers that use HMOS and PPOs; nationally, only 33% of covered workers on HMOs and 10% of covered workers on PPOs did not have a deductible; the national average deductible for single coverage PPOs in 2023 was $1,281; and Lackawanna County employees pay below-average rates for above average health coverage.

In 2025, Lackawanna County budgeted $25.4 million, or about 15% of the general fund, for employee health insurance.

“When I took office, the county was facing a serious financial crisis. Years of structural imbalance, rising costs and the absence of long-term planning had left us in an unsustainable position. From day one, we committed to fixing the root causes of that problem — not papering them over. This agreement shows that strategy working,” Gaughan said.

In commending SEIU leadership and its members “for recognizing the county’s financial reality and working with us in good faith,” Gaughan said, “This was a collaborative effort rooted in mutual respect … and a shared understanding that long-term stability benefits everyone.”

Welby said of the SEIU contract, “This was an awful lot of work done by an awful lot of people and, as Commissioner Gaughan said, it’s a great achievement.”

Chermak added, “We have other unions that are going to be coming up next (for contract negotiations), so hopefully we’ll be able to get through them a little quicker.”

Along with the SEIU, the county workforce has six other bargaining units. The probation and domestic relations unit has a contract expiring Dec. 31, 2025; units of the Office of Youth and Family Services, deputy sheriffs, detectives and public defenders all have contracts that expire at the end of 2026; and the county prison unit expires at the end of 2027.

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Lackawanna County Commissioners Bill Gaughan, Chris Chermak, and Thom Welby hold a commissioners’ meeting at the county government center in Scranton Tuesday, December 30, 2025. (SEAN MCKEAG / STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER)

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