Napa County and the Napa County Deputy Sheriffs’ Association, which represents 99 sheriff’s deputies, sergeants and district attorney investigators, have reached a tentative agreement in their efforts to negotiate a new labor contract.

The association’s current contract was set to expire on Friday, and the new deal was agreed upon late last month.

“We are very pleased with the collaborative approach the DSA took to these negotiations,” said County Executive Officer Nancy Watt. “The professionalism and mutual respect is evident in the final package.”

The Board of Supervisors will consider the tentative agreement at its Oct. 9 meeting, the earliest opportunity to get the item on the agenda.

The main provisions of the tentative agreement include:

• A two-year term of agreement, through Oct. 2, 2009.

• An annual cost of living increase in July 2008 and July 2009, based on the previous year’s Bay Area Consumer Price Index, with a minimum of 2.5 percent increase and a maximum of 5 percent.

• A standardization of the county’s health care premium contributions, to match the package agreed to in August by SEIU, the county’s largest employee union.

• An increase in a number of specialty pays, such as night shift differential, bilingual pay and education pay, because the current specialty pay practices lagged behind the market.

• An increase in survivor’s benefit to match the benefit available to SEIU members.

The tentative agreement features no changes in the retirement formula or post-retirement medical benefits for any current employees or retirees.

“We’re all so pleased with the county’s response to our request for collaborative negotiation and I believe this is a fair agreement for all parties involved,” said Sergeant Jon Crawford, the association’s president.

The active agreements for all county unions are available on the county Web site at www.co.napa.ca.us. On the County Departments pull-down menu, choose Human Resources, then click on MOU documents in the left-hand navigation column.