Mayor Lenny Curry, City Council members and other supporters of the pension referendum were all smiles Tuesday evening as they hoisted champagne glasses to toast the successful passage of a half-cent sales tax dedicated to paying down a crippling city problem.
It was cause to celebrate when 65 percent of the voters said “yes” to the plan after such a dedicated campaign. Yet, it was just the next step — there’s more work to be done, this time at the collective bargaining table.
Randy Wyse, head of the Jacksonville Association of Firefighters, helped sell that plan in Tallahassee and supported it locally.
He took a spot along the wall to watch that celebration. Soon enough, he’ll be at the table with the city.
“OK, things are going to change a little bit,” he said Wednesday of how it felt after the tax passed. “But, that’s expected.”
Steve Zona, the local Fraternal Order of Police head, was there to watch voter results stream in but left before the celebration took off. Like Wyse, he’ll be sitting down with city official soon enough to hash out changes to public safety pensions.
The city’s side has a couple of points that must be addressed. At least one of its plans must be closed. And current employees will see their contribution rates increased to 10 percent.
Employees hired prior to June 19 pay 8 percent, while those hired after pay 10 percent.
“We’re supportive of that,” said Wyse of public safety members paying 10 percent.
That support, though, will have to come through some form of concessions elsewhere by the city.
Wyse and Zona said one of the bigger issues they hear from members is the lack of raises for the past eight years, although some receive step raises. Insurance rates are high, especially for those people who elect family plans. And the retirement plans for those newer members is lacking when looking around the state.
Overall, Zona said, it’s made the city less attractive to recruitment efforts and more difficult to retain good talent. The department is No. 1 in the state for correction officers being lost to attrition, he said.
Wyse sees the issues, too. Next week, he’s losing three firefighters to other Florida counties.
He’s seen the trend slowly coming, though. For the past eight years, he typically has addressed new firefighter classes and asks how many came from other municipalities.
Back then, 80 percent to 90 percent raised their hands. The last class he addressed had just a few hands respond to the question – it was about 25 percent.
“I looked at the fire chief and said “You see? They aren’t coming,’” Wyse recalled.
Wyse and Zona both would like to see the county return to a competitive state with its peers in Florida, especially when Curry has so heavily promoted public safety as his No. 1 priority.
Zona said he expects to hear this week when the city would like to sit down.
The mayor Tuesday briefly mentioned collective bargaining in his speech after the results came in. He noted it was the next step and “we will be successful there.”
It will require compromise from both sides or else the sales tax effort that’s come so far with lawmakers and voters will be for naught.
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