YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio - AFSCME employees in the Mahoning County Auditor's Office have agreed to a deal that reverses the trend of the county paying the largest portion of employee retirement contributions.

Mahoning County Commissioners approved the contract on Thursday.

It means that while AFSCME employees will receive pay increases, they've also agreed to pay 100% of their employee retirement contributions beginning in December of 2013.

Auditor Michael Sciortino says the union and management worked together to do what's best for the county. "Back in the early 90s, when the county, in lieu of pay raises, gave 6, 7, 8 percent increases in terms of paying the employees share of PERS or Public Employees Retirement System. Those days are over. We're all fighting for the limited tax dollars," Sciortino said.

Sciortino goes on to say this gets the county where they need to be and that's a good thing.

Commissioner John McNally tells 21 News, "For the first year of the agreement some of these employees will actually be seeing a net pay cut. Their increases over the life of the contract are somewhere in the neighborhood of $200 to $250. For us it's pretty much a wash, and something we can afford to live with."

Other county bargaining units are also considering similar agreements.