Firefighters pay raises to cost $400,000; money wasn`t budgeted

Jan. 29--Four wage increases in two years for Sylvania Township firefighters will cost nearly $400,000, but the unbudgeted amount this year will be covered by revenue from levy passed by voters in November.

Susan Wood, township assistant administrator, on Wednesday explained the $397,500 wage increase costs in a wage reopener agreement reached between the township and the 57 members of Local 2243 of the International Association of Fire Fighters. The raises were approved Tuesday by the township trustees, but the total cost was not available that night.

Ms. Wood said the 0.5 percent pay raise retroactive to Dec. 1 will cost $6,062 to pay all the employees; the 3.75 percent increase effective April 1 will cost $110,800; the 3.25 percent wage increase effective Jan. 1, 2016 will cost $135,680; and the 0.5 percent increase effective July 1, 2016 will cost $144,934. Each figure includes the previous wage increase amount as the base, thus the total rises as each raise takes effect.

The Sylvania Township Fire Department provides service for Sylvania city and township.

The pay raises are on top of the nearly $3.7 million in wage expenses budgeted in the 2015 Fire Fund for the unionized firefighters, who double as paramedics. The raises will be paid from the Fire Fund, but are not included in the $8.5 million in expenses for the department budgeted this year. The Fire Fund budget shows revenues of $10.5 million, bolstered by the 1.5-mill operating levy for fire services passed last year. That levy brings in about $1.8 million annually.

Before the levy passed, the township projected a $20,000 deficit in the Fire Fund this year and a $1.3 million deficit next year.

The firefighter union's three-year labor contract, which expires Dec. 31, 2016, negotiated prior to the millage approval provided for bargaining on wages for years 2015 and 2016. The latest agreement provides the firefighters their first wage increase since 2013.

Prior to the re-negotiated contract, a firefighter with the department for four years was paid $23.08 an hour. That rate will be $24.97 by December, 2016. A lieutenant post had received $26.51 an hour, and that will rise to $28.68 by the end of 2016. The department has 11 lieutenants.

A firefighter joining the department before April 1 will be paid $17.90 an hour.

Ms. Wood said the new pay rates take into account the firefighters' medical background and service provided as paramedics. It also considered pay at nearby fire departments, noting Oregon current contract provides 3 percent raises the first year, 2.75 percent the second year, and 2.5 percent the third year.

She said of the the Sylvania firefighters union, "They were realistic about the department's financial situation and conscientious of the taxpayer."

The township fire department's three administrators did not get pay raises, Ms. Wood said, but she intends to talk about raises for them and two full-time administrative assistants at the next trustee meeting.

Contact Natalie Trusso Cafarello at: 419-206-0356, or ntrusso@theblade.com, or on Twitter @natalietrusso.

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