A neutral fact-finding report will be the basis of a new contract for the Butler County Area Vocational-Technical School’s teachers, who have been without a contract since June 2014.

The previous contract for the school’s 21 teachers and one counselor expired June 30, 2014, and a fact-finding report, done by David V. Breen, was filed Aug. 29. The report includes recommendations for a contract that would run through June 30, 2019.

The vo-tech’s joint operating committee approved that report Sept. 1, and the Butler County Area Vocational-Technical Education Association approved it Sept. 2, according to solicitor Tom Breth.

Both sides had 10 days after receiving the report to vote on it, according to Terrie Holter, the union’s negotiator from the Pennsylvania State Education Association.

The fact-finding report was initiated by the association, according to the report, which was filed with the Pennsylvania Labor Relations Board.

That report identified wages, retirement incentives and health insurance as the issues in dispute.

In Breen’s report, he recommended lump sum salary increases starting with the 2016-17 school year. This year, the teachers will receive a $3,000 salary increase; a $3,100 increase in 2017-18 and a $3,200 increase in 2018-19.

Those numbers are higher than the school’s original proposal: that teachers receive a $2,300 increase in 2016-17 and $2,100 increases in 2017-18 and 2018-19.

The average salary for a vo-tech teacher is $47,800, according to Breth.

The health insurance recommendations in the report suggest a $400 individual deductible and an $800 family deductible until Jan. 1, 2019. In 2019, the deductibles would increase to $500 and $1,000 respectively.

The co-pay under the terms of the fact-finding report is $20, up from the previous contract’s $15 co-pay but lower than the employer’s proposal of a $30 co-pay.

The report also recommended the insurance premium remain at the current level of $45 per month for the duration of the contract, which will expire June 30, 2019.

According to the report, the school wanted the employee premium to increase $10 per month for each year of the agreement, effective Jan. 1, 2017. The teachers’ union proposed that the premium be eliminated.

Breth said these recommendations are the foundation for the new contract which is being drafted. He said the contract could be signed in the next week.

Multiple attempts to reach Holter and Jeff Celender, president of the teacher’s union, were unsuccessful.