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At Monday’s City Council caucus meeting, assistant business administrator Bob Kakoleski asked the council to approve five labor contracts on this week’s agenda, including three police and fire contracts that were rejected by the council at a fiery meeting last month.

Council members had cited a lack of city funds to pay for negotiated raises as the reason for rejecting the contracts. Although the unions had conceded a change to their health care plan that according to business administrator Brian O’Reilly would save the city about $1 million annually, the raises called for in the contract would have cost an estimated $8 million over the four-year contract period. The rejected contracts provided for a retroactive 3 percent pay raise for 2009, 3.3 percent in 2010, 3.4 percent in 2011 and 3.5 percent in 2012.

“I can’t in good conscience vote for a contract that gives these raises out when other employees are being furloughed,” said Ward B councilman David Donnelly as he voted no last month.

The revised contracts instead promise raises of 2.75 percent in each year of the contract, or a total of 11 percent over the four years. Kakoleski told the council on Monday that the reduced raises and additional health plan givebacks from the unions will decrease the overall cost by over $4 million compared to the earlier contracts.

The council members who commented on the proposed contracts at the caucus had positive remarks.

“I’ve looked at all these numbers … I honestly think we have a good agreement,” said Ward A councilman Michael Sottolano. “And we did not lose money by not accepting” the earlier proposed deal, he added.

Even if the contracts are approved by the council, the unions must ratify them before they take effect. The unions are under some pressure to ratify the contracts before May 21, when a new state law is to be enacted that will require all government employees to contribute 1.5 percent of their salaries to the cost of their health benefits.

Kakoleski noted on Monday that the Police Superior Officers Association, which represents officers of upper ranks, has not agreed to a contract and is “in full-blown arbitration.”