It’s not too early for Butler City Council to begin mapping its strategy for this year’s contract negotiations with the police and firefighter unions and the union representing parks, streets and office workers.

Contracts covering all three bargaining units expire Dec. 31.

Despite being just over a month into this contract negotiations year, city officials already should be considering approaches to the upcoming bargaining, including who will negotiate for the municipality on the taxpayers’ behalf.

One important recommendation of the Butler City Economic Task Force’s newly released report is that the city should retain experienced public labor law counsel to negotiate the collective-bargaining agreements.

That’s good advice.

If the unions bring in experts to negotiate on their behalf, the city should not rely on individuals who lack collective-bargaining experience.

The city faces the possibility of bankruptcy or fiscally distressed status in two or three years if it doesn’t get its financial house in order.

The city must do all it can to avoid both options. Neither is a panacea.

According to the task force report, public safety costs are approximately 60 percent of the city’s budget — a significantly higher percentage than comparable cities in the region. If the city doesn’t handle the upcoming talks correctly, that figure could jump — and not just by a pittance.

Experienced public labor law counsel is skilled in reacting to demands of those with whom it is negotiating. It also is able to recognize opportunities for progress that might not be grasped quickly by a negotiator who doesn’t have collective-bargaining savvy.

Most of all, by not having day-to-day work or operational ties with the opposing side’s bargaining unit, the outside counsel can maintain a tougher stance on some issues while recognizing where trade-offs might be available to overcome difficult contract obstacles.

It’s long been said that the best contract is one with which neither side is totally happy. That will be true with the city’s three new contracts scheduled to be in place by Jan. 1.

Despite its difficult financial situation, the city can’t be expected to win on all of the proposals it puts on the bargaining table. That’s unrealistic.

But it will be possible for the city to fare better than in past contract bargaining if it brings in outside expertise to assist it.

Indeed, there will be a cost for that expertise, but contract savings could make that expenditure a good investment.

Regardless of when the negotiations are targeted to begin, the time to start preparing for them is now, not a couple of weeks before talks begin.

In the weeks ahead, the city must move quickly and diligently to explore the costs and expertise of the area’s labor lawyers and find the best fit for Butler.

But from the start, Butler city officials should rule out any thought of negotiating without professional assistance. This is too critical of a time for the city to have “amateur” negotiators, no matter how well-intentioned, determining its contracts fate.