2.5 percent pay cut for firefighters

To deal with a $1.4 million budget shortfall during the next four months, the Lodi City Council approved furloughs, reductions in salary and elimination of city contributions to employees' retirement plans.

About 60 people attended the meeting Wednesday night, most of them representing one of the 10 bargaining groups the city has negotiated with to avoid layoffs.

The vote was 3 to 1 with Councilwoman JoAnne Mounce voting against. Councilwoman Susan Hitchcock was out sick.

"We as a council recognize this is a difficult time and affects your families ... I know you all take pride in the level of service you provide to the community," Mayor Larry Hansen said before the vote.

The city worked with all of the groups to identify ways they could reduce costs, and the agreements will start March 1. Some have entered into four month contracts to cover this fiscal year's projected shortfall, while others have extended the concessions through June 30, 2010. The city expects an 8 percent decline in revenue next fiscal year.

Because of the furlough system, all city offices will be closed one day a month, including City Hall.

Firefighters took a 2.5-percent pay reduction, and both fire and police have opted to not cash out overtime and instead bank it to be used as time off at a later date. Police dispatchers also delayed a 3-percent increase they were supposed to receive July 2009.

Cuts at a glance

Some highlights of the cuts and the amount they will save (this is calculated through the end of the fiscal year on June 30):

Stop city contributions for workers' retirement funds for all groups besides the fire department.
Savings: $113,461

Reduce salary by 2.5 percent for firefighters and fire mid-management
Savings: $31,750

Eliminate overtime for the fire and police departments
Savings: $280,000

Eliminate uniform allowance for police department in April 2009
Savings: $48,000

Defer cost-of-living increase until July 2009 for police dispatchers:
Savings: $13,685

One furlough day per month for all groups beside police and firefighters (but it does apply to fire mid-management)
Savings: $109,456

Total savings: $596,352

News-Sentinel staff

Overall, employee concessions totaled $596,352. The city will make up the rest of the money by leaving positions open and management adjustments for $481,970. The city will also dip into reserves for the last $361,755 to get through the rest of the year.

Mounce said she could not vote for the proposal because she was concerned some of the cuts would affect the level of fire department service.

Under the plan, the firefighters will drastically decrease overtime staffing by reducing minimum staffing from 15 to 12 when necessary. This usually will happen when a firefighter is sick or injured.

It takes three firefighters to operate a truck or engine. Instead of paying someone overtime to fill the position, the department will not run one of its five trucks, and will distribute the other two employees to other stations. While all stations will remain open, one truck will not be in use.

Mounce said she would only vote for the budget if the reduction in staffing when necessary was limited to four months.

"You rescued my home and all of its contents," she said.

Hansen said that while he understands the concerns, everyone in the city is making sacrifices. He specifically mentioned the police department, which has not filled five officer positions.

"This absolutely will affect services," he said. "It's one of the painful decisions the City Council has to make."

In preparation for falling revenue next year, the city will also offer a two-year service credit to encourage those eligible to retire early. This will be for employees over 50 who have accumulated five years service credit.

The city has identified 26 positions that would qualify for this, but will probably have eight-to-10 employees accept it. City staff estimates that it will save $1 million a year.

Throughout the meeting, city staff and the council stressed that the agreements could not have been reached without the cooperation of all the unions.

"It's amazing to me that you are able to band together and look our for each other," Mounce said.

Contact reporter Maggie Creamer at maggiec@lodinews.com.

Reader Feedback

campking wrote on Feb 25, 2009 11:13 PM:

" Lodian wrote on Feb 21, 2009 2:44 PM:

" Cogito wrote on Feb 20, 2009 7:24 PM:

" Also Lodian, when monstrosities were put on the ballot, Lodi voted FOR their acceptance. "

No one voted on a SWM. "

Lodian, do more research before you post. It was called Measure "R", and it was specifically about Super Wal-Mart. It passed with somewhere around 60 plus percent of the vote. It was a regular election, and voter turnout was rather high, especially compared to the turnout you will see with the special election fraud about to occur in 6 days concerning measure W. "

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