Governmental bodies are in continual negotiations with employee unions, and labor represents by far their biggest budget item. We can watch debates on how much to spend on roads, parks, health care, schools and sewage treatment. We can listen to discussions on the proper level of taxation. We can offer input on all of that.

But when it comes to the biggest of the big ticket items, the doors are closed.

We might get occasional updates, but they’re usually vague assurances that both sides are taking the process seriously and acting in good faith. It isn’t until an agreement is reached that we get to finally see what we’re expected to finance.

In some states, the sessions are open to the public. And why not? Those discussions greatly shape the level of service and taxation. Such is not the case in Washington state. In fact, a judge ruled last year that notes from state negotiations can be withheld from the public until the new contracts have been implemented. Even then, state employee unions battled to keep the notes under wraps, noting weakly that bargaining sessions “are of no legitimate purpose to the public.”

Plainly, they are, but barring legislative action, negotiations will continue to be conducted in secret. With that in mind, we suggest both sides clip and save the following facts from annual surveys taken by the Kaiser Family Foundation, Health Research and Educational Trust and Towers Perrin, a benefits consultant:

•The average health-care premium rose 5 percent this year and is expected to climb 6 percent next year.

•The average family health care plan cost $12,680 this year. It was $5,791 in 1999.

•From 1999 to 2008, the average employee contribution to premium costs went from $1,543 to $3,354, or 27 percent of total coverage costs.

•An increasing number of workers have taken on high deductible plans ($1,000 or more) to keep premium costs down. This is especially true of small companies – 200 or fewer employees – where one-third of them must spend $1,000 out of pocket before the employers’ benefit plan kicks in.

•Only 31 percent of large companies provide health benefits for retirees, which is a 66 percent drop since 1988.

Against that real-world backdrop, consider this fact from a USA Today article from 2007:

“A typical full-time state or local government worker made $78,853 in wages and benefits in the third quarter of 2006, $25,771 more than a typical private-sector worker, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reports. … Better benefits for government workers is the biggest reason for the growing compensation gap.”

In defending the recent pay increase for the largest employee union at City Hall, Spokane City Council President Joe Shogan said: “If they make a little more than the average, then so be it.”

It isn’t a little more; it’s a lot. And it’s something to keep in mind the next time negotiators shut the door on those who pay must pay for it.