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The City of Bartlersville and International Association of Fire Fighters Local 200 continue to be at a standstill in negotiating a 2025-2026 fiscal year contract. At Monday's city council meeting, city attorney Jess Kane gave an update and said a major reason for the dispute centers around the way the department promotes employees. 

Another sticking point in dealing with these negotions is overtime pay rates for when someone calls in sick. Kane points out that under the current contract, thedouble-time rule in effect has cost taxpayers more than $400,000 in the last two years.

This is a result of how replacements are chosen when someone calls in sick and how much that person gets paid. 

Kane went on to say on average a firefighter uses 188 hours of sick leave in one year. That amounts to one month and is by far the most of any department in comparison to other cities Bartlesville's size.