Commission sides with town on firefighter contract

The Longboat Key Town Commission sided with the town manager’s position on all three points of contract contention between the town and the firefighters at an impasse hearing Wednesday, March 2.

The seven commissioners voted 7-0 on two of Town Manager Bruce St. Denis’ positions, which state:

• The town should no longer count sick or leave time as hours worked for overtime purposes.

• The town should no longer count vacation and sick leave as compensation when determining a final pension payout for retired employees.

A third point of contention, which involves the town decreasing the Deferred Retirement Options Plan period for firefighters from three years to two years, was approved by a 6-1 vote. Commissioner Lynn Larson dissented, but only because she wanted a stipulation included that employees in the DROP program shall not be eligible for a promotion by the town.

Employees in DROP still work for the town but are effectively retired and their pension payments are no longer included in the pension plan and are instead placed in a separate savings account.

Although the firefighters argued a reduced DROP plan was not in the town’s best interest, St. Denis said the town could hire employees at a lower wage to replace longer tenured employees, saving at least $25,000 in salary costs.

Now, the town’s pension attorney will complete a one-year contract that expires Sept. 30, 2011, and submit it to be ratified by the Town Commission and the firefighters.

If the firefighters decide not to ratify the contract, the three points decided upon by the commission still go into effect while both sides continue to come to an agreement over a new contract.

For more information, pick up a copy of the March 10 edition of the Longboat Observer.

Contact Kurt Schultheis at [email protected].