The City declared an impasse Monday in pension negotiations with the local police union it says has refused to come to the bargaining table.
In declaring the impasse, the City seeks a special magistrate to hear the issue. The magistrate would recommend a resolution.
If both sides do not agree on the magistrate's recommendation, the issue would head to City Council, which could impose its own changes for one year.
The City remains open to resume negotiations "at any time" despite the impasse declaration, according to the letter.
This negotiation issue stems from a reopener clause in a January bargaining agreement between the City and Fraternal Order of Police Lodge 5-30 that called for nine negotiation sessions between October and December.
According to the letter, the meetings would allow the City to present retirement reform and answer any union questions about a proposal.
On Oct. 29, the first of the nine scheduled meetings, Mayor Alvin Brown presented a pension reform plan for police employees that saves $1.5 billion over 30 years but trims benefits in several areas and eliminates others.
Under the proposal, police members would double their current retirement contributions, work longer before being eligible to retire and not collect benefits until a later age, among other changes.
In response, union leader Nelson Cuba sent Brown a letter Oct. 31 stating the attempt to negotiate with the FOP "appears misguided" and that the Police and Fire Pension Fund is the proper entity to handle pension issues for full-time City police officers and firefighters.
It also refers to a 30-year agreement between the City and fund from 2001 about minimum benefits to be provided. Cuba's letter says the recent proposal about benefits "fall far below the promises" made by Brown's predecessors.
"If you are serious about pension issues, the law and history to date show that such discussions need to take place with the PFPF. The PFPF exists for that specific reasons and the FOP has not in the past, and will not in the future, negotiate pension benefits with the City of Jacksonville," Cuba says in the letter.
The City, through its letter, says Cuba declined to negotiate during an Oct. 31 bargaining meeting and stood by the assertion that the fund is the negotiating agent on behalf of police members.
The City responded with a 1981 Florida Supreme Court opinion that backed its stance that the union, not the fund, is the bargaining unit.
According to the City letter, Cuba walked out of that meeting.
After correspondence about which side failed to show, a Nov. 14 meeting to discuss corrections officers was canceled by the union.
The City says that to date, the union has failed to respond about the remaining sessions, which led to the impasse declaration.
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