The Ironton City Council Finance Committee will meet at 5 p.m. today. This meeting was called by council chairman Mike Lutz after an ordinance setting the salaries of non-union employees was tabled at the behest of council member Bob Cleary during Thursday’s regularly scheduled council meeting.

The proposed salary roster includes a provision that requires the non-union employees to begin paying 7 and a half percent of their retirement pickup and 10 percent of their health insurance premium.

Right now city employees, both union and non-union, pay nothing toward their retirement and only 5 percent of their health insurance premiums. An earlier proposal had called for employees to begin paying 20 percent of their health insurance premium and up to 10 percent of their retirement pickup.

That plan was scrapped in favor of the lesser contributions after it was determined some employees would begin paying hundreds more per month for these two benefits. City officials are beginning negotiations with the three unions that represent the rest of the municipal employees in the near future.

The city council must approve a new budget for the year 2012 by March 31. As the deadline approaches, city council continues to debate whether to repeal the city’s reciprocity agreement, which would affect some 450 city residents who work in other municipalities that have a payroll tax. Right now the city grants such individuals a 50 percent break on this tax.

There is also discussion on whether to raise the municipal fee by $2.