City sought accrual rate that is equitable

By Douglas K. Leslie

Recent news articles have brought to light the difference of opinions held by the Cape Girardeau Fire Union Local 1084 and city management. We feel obligated to provide the following information in order to more fully explain this issue.

As promised, the fire safety sales tax approved in August 2004 has allowed for the hiring of three new firefighters, an average 15 percent pay increase for firefighters and $5,956,398 for equipment, apparatus and building improvements. All revenue raised by the fire safety sales tax is going into the Public Safety Trust Fund and has been used 100 percent for fire and police improvements. This sales tax brought in $558,250 for increases in pay for sworn officers (police and fire). However, the new pay plan cost $605,829 for salaries, leaving a $47,579 gap in the fund.

The central issue of the discussion concerns the leave accrual rate for firefighters. Firefighters work 40 percent more hours than general employees. However, until last year they accrued 300 percent more in vacation and sick leave. In order to provide for adequate staffing while our firefighters are scheduled off for vacation or sickness, we have had to use overtime to maintain minimum staffing in our fire stations. Overtime costs in the fire department related to accrual rates have ranged from $46,000 to $89,000 per year since 2003. As in any organization, this type of cost overrun is not sustainable and creates budget pressures.

To address this financial imbalance, our decision was to change the accrual rates for new firefighters hired after October 2006 to 63 percent, which is more than the 40 percent difference in hours worked. Comparable fire departments accrue an average 24.3 percent more vacation than their general employee peers. New Cape Girardeau firefighters will accrue 63 percent more vacation than our general employees. Existing firemen working prior to October 2006 were not affected by the change in accrual rates and continue to accrue time off at the 300 percent rate. The final decision was made and communicated to the fire union.

We anticipated that changing the accrual rates for new firefighters might hinder our ability to attract qualified candidates. We carefully examined our proposed rates with comparable cities and kept our new accrual rates higher than surrounding municipalities. The most recent hiring process indicates we are still competitive in attracting qualified candidates. For 2007 we had seven openings, with 56 applicants for these positions. Twenty-two applicants passed the written test, agility test and interview board and were placed on the eligibility list for one year. Most importantly, all the applicants knew about the accrual rates. If hired, they would have a lower accrual rate than current firefighters. This did not affect their desire for the job, and those hired knowingly accepted the positions with this full disclosure.

Firefighting can be a dangerous job. Training, equipment and appropriate staffing can all improve the safety of the work. Because of the fire safety sales tax, we have put more funding and time into training, dramatically improved safety equipment and hired three additional firefighters.

In summary:

• The change in leave accrual rates did not affect any existing firefighters when implemented in October.
• Only those hired after that date are subject to the new rates, and they accepted the job with that understanding.
• The fire safety sales tax and Public Safety Trust Fund commitments have been implemented as promised, and 100 percent of the funds have gone for pay and equipment improvements for public safety employees.
• With these improvements we have been able to attract a good number of qualified applicants to fill vacancies.
• This change is final and was implemented in October 2006.

We have a commitment to all 370 employees, and the taxpayers, to ensure that the benefits and wages are competitive and reasonable. Diverting thousands of dollars to cover overtime costs due to unusually high accrual rates does not improve the safety of the department, nor does it represent the type of public accountability that is required for local government leaders.

Douglas K. Leslie is the city manager of Cape Girardeau.