The President of the Hollister Police Association said officers
are not likely to renegotiate a contract to increase their pensions
and predicted the union would win in court if the city tried to
renege on the deal because of budget concerns.
Hollister – The President of the Hollister Police Association said officers are not likely to renegotiate a contract to increase their pensions and predicted the union would win in court if the city tried to renege on the deal because of budget concerns.
Worrying that an annual $1.7 million in public safety pension costs – for both firefighters and police – could drain the city’s budget, the City Council delayed voting on a long-planned increase to the police retirement program last week and is looking into the legal ramifications of breaking the contract.
“I’m irritated they waited until the 11th hour to bring this up,” said Hollister Police Sgt. Ray Wood, the president of the Police Officers Association.
Wood said that it is “not likely” that the POA would renegotiate the contract with the city, adding that the city had more than three years to plan for the increase in public safety retirement benefits.
If the City Council tries to back out of the contract, there will be an expensive legal fight, Wood predicted. “And the POA will still come out ahead.”
“It’s important to remember they didn’t make a decision either way,” he said. “I think once they realize that there will be major repercussions and liability issues, getting lawyers and judges involved, they will find that they cannot not honor the contract.”
In 2002, the city negotiated with the Hollister Police Officers’ Association to increase their retirement benefits from 2 percent to 3 percent at age 50, a deal slated to take effect on July 1. A similar deal for Hollister firefighters would begin in July 2006.
The benefit increase negotiated three years ago is a strong recruiting tool, which pulls in recruits who could earn a larger salary with other police departments, but choose to work in Hollister because of the retirement benefits, Wood said.
Currently, Hollister police officers and fire fighters receive 2 percent of their highest salary for every year they served upon retiring at age 50. For example, if an officer has 20 years of service when he retires at age 50, those years would be multiplied by 2 percent, giving him 40 percent of his pay as final compensation, according to the California Public Employment Retirement System Web site.
If both fire and police contracts increasing the multiplier to 3 percent take effect, the city will be paying about $1.7 million per year out of its estimated $13 million general fund budget for public safety pensions. City officials are not yet clear on the breakdown of the estimated $1.7 million between police and firefighters.
During their May 16 meeting, council members expressed concern that the city could not afford to honor the agreement that was made by a previous council. The council will meet in closed session on June 6 to discuss its options of how to handle situation.
“I’m not saying they don’t deserve it,” said Council Member Robert Scattini. “The bottom line is if we don’t have the money, how are we going to pay them? There’s no option.”
City Attorney Elaine Cass said she could not comment on the city’s options until the board has discussed the issue in closed session.
“From what I understand it is already a contractual agreement. The last City Council already agreed to it,” said Captain Bob Martin Del Campo, local representative for the International Association of Firefighters union. Hollister firefighters’ pensions are slated to increase by one percent in July, 2006.
Martin Del Campo said that he would let the firefighters he represents decide whether to renegotiate with the city
“It was a hard fought battle to get 3 at 50,” he said. “I don’t know if the membership is willing to amend.”
Luke Roney covers politics and agriculture for the Free Lance. Reach him at 831-637-5566 ext. 335 or at lr****@fr***********.com.
