By admin 
The El Dorado Hills Community Services District Board of Directors is expected to approve a contract extension with unionized workers Thursday, ending a year-long bargaining process that grew contentious in its final months.
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The proposed extension would continue the employees’ current agreement through June 30, 2027. Unlike previous extensions, the deal would not include across-the-board pay raises.
Union negotiator Tina Acree said she was unhappy with the terms but did not see another option.
“We have currently a one-year extension with no wage increase in hopes that the district can figure out their financial situation to come back to the bargaining table and do the right thing,” she said in an interview last Thursday.
The proposed agreement comes after a lengthy bargaining process that began in April 2025, according to Acree. Last year, the union agreed to an extension that included a 3% raise for employees, she said.
El Dorado Hills General Manager Stephanie McGann Jantzen said Monday she was optimistic that the board would approve the extension during Thursday’s board meeting.
“I appreciate the work that we have done with our represented employees,” said Jantzen. “We value them and are glad to see this moving forward. “
But Acree said Monday that she had little faith that the directors would sign off.
“I’m just waiting to see if it actually passes, because we’ve heard this before from them,” she said. “I’m not holding my breath.”
Employees have grown increasingly frustrated with the bargaining process over the past year. In mid-July, union members weighed filing a complaint with the Public Employee Relations Board, but ultimately decided to hold off.
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The district’s directors were responsible for the drawn-out bargaining process, Acree said last Thursday, following private negotiations during a board meeting.
“They’re derelict in their duties and responsibilities to the employees and to the public,” she said. “I find it absolutely offensive that they take no responsibility, and they’re more apt to point the finger at staff, and they’re more apt to blame everybody else because they didn’t do their job.”
Other employees involved in the bargaining process had been helpful, she said.
Under the proposed agreement, employees will receive a one-time payment of $1,000. The district would also increase its monthly contribution toward employees’ health insurance premiums and give workers three additional paid days off.
The agreement would not include the pay raises the union had sought during negotiations.
A compensation study completed in December and provided to The Sacramento Bee found that many district positions were paid at or above the median compared with similar agencies in the region.
But pay ranges for other positions, especially lower paying roles such as office assistants and maintenance aides, were below average when compared to others in the region, according to the study commissioned by the district.
The salary range for a maintenance aide is about $35,500 to $44,300, compared with a 50th percentile range of about $43,700 to $53,300, the study showed.
Those low wages make it hard for employees to get by, said Acree.
The extension would give both sides another year before they return to negotiations over a longer-term agreement.
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“We have a short break, but then we’ll go right back to the table,” Acree said.