City Council asked to reveiw firefighters' pensions

Sarah Nail

Jun. 24, 2008 (McClatchy-Tribune Regional News delivered by Newstex) -- Sedalia firefighters asked the City Council to research ways to increase pension benefits.

The council continued its review of city employee pension plans at its work session Monday in City Hall.

Firefighters are concerned about their pensions because they don't contribute to Social Security and their pension plan has failed to keep pace with the cost of living.

City Administrator Keith Riesberg provided the council with a comparison of the fire, police and Local Area Government Employees Retirement System pension plans for positions with the same salary range.

The main difference is police and other city employees receive benefits from their respective pensions and Social Security. Also, all firefighters receive a flat benefit after 22 years of services. Police and other city employees' benefits are calculated based on their salary at the time of retirement and their years of service with the city.

Firefighter Danny Bailey, who is a member of the Fire Pension Board, said firefighters would like to see the monthly benefit for firefighters increase. The firefighters are requesting an increase in pension benefits from $1,739 a month after 25 years of service to $2,781 a month -- the same amount city employees receive from their pensions and Social Security if they were earning $3,000 a month upon retirement after 25 years.

"The plan we've kind of drawn up would allow us to draw $2,781 a month. ... But, we're going to need a little bit of help to make up the difference in Social Security," Bailey said.

The city pays the full contribution into LAGERS, but employees pay 7.65 percent of their salary to Social Security. Bailey said firefighters are still willing to contribute to their pension plans.

"We aren't asking for a free lunch. ... We aren't asking for anything other than a little boost to get us there, and I think it's possible," he said.

An actuary is needed to determine how much it would cost to make the requested changes. The firefighters asked the council to pay for the study.

Council members said they wanted an estimate on the cost of the study before they approve an actuarial study.

"I think we ought to know what the cost is before we decide on anything," said 4th Ward Councilman Ken Norton.

The council also wants more information about whether the Fire Department can start paying into Social Security.

Bailey said the firefighters are also requesting that they be fully vested after 20 to 25 years of service, when they would be between 50 and 55 years old.

"I'm here to tell you, 55 is as old as a person needs to be pumping hoses and going into burning houses," Bailey said.

The guideline is similar to that of fire departments throughout the state, he said.

Members of the Police Pension Board also aasked the council consider changes to its plan. Chet Mackiewicz, a member of the Police Pension Board, said the group would like to transition its pension into LAGERS. The change would allow officers to be vested after five years of service, instead of 15 years.

The police pension was "set up with 15-year vesting years ago to trap people," Mackiewicz said. But, now, it makes it difficult to recruit young, talented people who may want to move onto larger agencies after five years because they "can't get credit for the time that they worked here," he said.

Councilmen said they wanted more information about all the requested changes, but it would take time to research.

"This isn't something that's going to appear overnight," Norton said. "It will be a lot easier to sift through it all at once."

snail@sedaliademocrat.com

Newstex ID: KRTB-0246-26193685