Numbers presented at a collective bargaining table, interest arbitration, or public fee hearing have to withstand line-by-line scrutiny. Every MuniBench workbook is built from primary public filings and carries direct document references.
We retrieve executed collective bargaining agreements, memoranda of agreement, salary guides, and adopted municipal fee ordinances directly from official state and local repositories, including the New Jersey Public Employment Relations Commission (PERC), New York SeeThroughNY contract archives, the Ohio State Employment Relations Board (SERB), municipal clerk document centers, and codified municipal ordinances on eCode360 and Municode.
Union contracts structure compensation differently across neighboring towns. Some fold holiday pay into base salary while others pay a separate lump sum; some cap patrol scales at 6 steps while neighbors require 12 steps; recent contracts frequently establish two-tier longevity schedules for newer hires. Our matrices separate Academy/Entry base, Top Step base, steps to maximum, supervisory rank rates, annual COLA percentages, longevity tiers, and uniform or CDL stipends so negotiators see total scheduled cash clearly.
Neighboring building and land-use departments rarely use identical fee formulas. One town charges $15 per $1,000 of construction cost with a $50 minimum, while an adjacent town charges tiered valuation rates or cubic-foot volume rates plus certificate fees. Alongside each town's verbatim adopted formula, MuniBench computes standardized project scenarios (such as a $25,000 residential remodel and a $100,000 residential renovation) so council members can compare actual resident and contractor costs side by side.
Sheet 04 of every workbook lists the exact contract term or ordinance citation and links directly to the source document URL. If a municipality ratifies a successor MOA or amends a fee ordinance after publication, notify owen@munibench.com and we will verify the filing and issue an updated workbook at no charge to active purchasers.