Boise Fire Budget Shows Power of Union firehouse/news/11768163/boise-firefighters-earning-85k-salary-plus-benefits Boises fire budget tells the story of union power. The Boise Fire Department, which has one of Boises two unionized workforces, saw budget increases over the past decade that outpaced city population and tax revenue growth. Adjusted for inflation, the Boise Fire Department spent 38 percent more money in 2013 than in 2004. The number of people living in Boise rose by almost 7 percent during that time. Contracts with the Whitney and North Ada County districts gave the fire department responsibility for an additional 30,000 people; those districts tax their patrons and pay Boises expenses, plus administrative fees, to cover calls there. Firefighter equipment has become more technologically advanced and expensive. Firetrucks cost about $1 million apiece and need to be replaced every 10 to 12 years. But population and equipment alone dont account for the departments rise in spending. Boise Fire Departments maintenance, operations and equipment costs increased less than 5 percent between 2004 and 2013. Per-capita spending on those items declined 15.9 percent. So where is the money going? Salaries and benefits. In 2013, the fire departments average full-time employee -- including some nonunionized support staff -- earned $85,000 in wages, as well as $50,000 in city contributions to insurance and retirement accounts. Thats 24.5 percent more compensation than a decade ago. Again, these figures account for inflation. By comparison, Boise police officers -- also unionized -- earned 11.4 percent more on average than in 2004. The average Parks and Recreation workers compensation rose about 3 percent, while library workers pay and benefits decreased more than 2 percent over the same time period. A NEW DEAL After years of criticism for not having fire protection, the city of Boise founded the fire department in 1876. It became a full-time professional department in 1902. Sixteen years later, Boise Fire Fighters Local 149 was formed, giving firefighters the strength of a union when negotiating pay, benefits and working conditions. For more than a year now, the city of Boise and Local 149 have been working toward a new long-term labor contract. Jim Walker, secretary-treasurer of Local 149, said the negotiations are at a little bit of an impasse, but well work through it. Walker expects a deal to get done soon. Walker and city representatives refused to comment on specifics of the negotiations. Six years ago, the city decided it needed to pay its firefighters better to make sure the department could attract the best candidates and develop the best crews in the state, if not the surrounding region, said David Eberle, who resigned from the City Council last month when he moved out of town. Subsequent contracts achieved that goal, he said, but merit and seniority raises led to excessive costs for Boise. The rate of increases were unsustainable for the rate of growth of the tax base, Eberle said. So we were really concerned about getting it back in line, and thats really what the negotiations this time have been about. The union does have a measure of goodwill on its side after foregoing a raise two years ago when budgets were tight, Eberle said. DO THEY DESERVE MORE MONEY? One of the most common justifications for giving firefighters better pay, benefits and early retirement is the belief that their jobs are dangerous. By at least one measure, thats not true. Firefighters dont make the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics Top 10 list of most lethal jobs. Loggers, commercial fishermen, pilots and roofers top the list, with trash collectors coming in fifth. Fire Chief Dennis Doan said five Boise firefighters have died in the line of duty, the last in the late 1980s. But firefighter safety isnt just a matter of how many die on the job. The work is demanding, physically and mentally, advocates say. Its tough on their bodies, Eberle said. They need to get out after 20 years. They really do. All the smoke inhalation and the stress -- yes, its stimulating. They love it, but we also know that it takes a toll, and its time for them to get out and enjoy some quality of life afterwards. Firefighters have to be in good physical shape and keep their skills sharp despite a lot of down time. Doan said firefighters train, on average, four to five hours a day. The fire department responds to two fires on an average day. But firefighters here face a variety of fire types not seen in many cities. Boise has the biggest buildings and airport in Idaho. It has the Foothills and open, grassy areas that present a different kind of challenge when they catch fire. The members of Boise Fire Fighters Local 149 have to be good at fighting both kinds of fire. They also fish rafters out of the Boise River, and they respond to medical calls and every other type of emergency. We used to be a fire department. And were really all hazards now, Doan said. We also are EMTs, paramedics. We have a dive team, swift-water rescue, hazardous materials, aircraft-rescue firefighting. 9/11 EFFECT? Steve Greenhut has made a career of chastising public service unions. The columnist for U-T San Diego aims his most scathing attacks at firefighter unions such as Local 149. Greenhut accuses firefighter unions of exploiting 9/11 -- and the wave of public goodwill toward firefighters that followed the terrorist attacks -- to enrich themselves. Thats not an unreasonable claim, said Marty Peterson, Idahos budget director in the 1980s and a member of the Idaho Statesmans editorial board. Thats just the way humans operate, Peterson said. And it isnt just firefighters. I think anybody that becomes a hero over something like that is in a position to maybe take advantage of it for their own future betterment. I do find it interesting, though, that the New York City firefighters bear the brunt of all this, and all of a sudden youve got firefighters in L.A. and Phoenix and Boise and whatever able to take advantage of it. Naturally, Walker disagrees. In fact, it offends me that someone would suggest that we profit off the deaths of our brother and sister firefighters, Walker said. That notion -- I wouldnt even give credence to it. Walker believes Boise firefighter compensation is fair. Recent wage and benefits increases have put Boises crews on par with comparable professional fire departments, he said. Thats true of Reno, whose firefighters earn, on average, slightly less total compensation than Boises. Employees of the Salt Lake City Fire Department, including some nonunionized workers, earn $40,000 less on average per year than their counterparts in Boise and Reno. Firefighters for all three departments are unionized. UNIONS VS. CITIES Though he cites examples from other states, Greenhut focuses on California. Unions there are stronger than in Idaho, so they have more impact on governments bottom lines. Thats partly due to politics. Unions are steadfast sources of campaign money, votes and outreach for Democrats, whose party dominates California. Republicans, notoriously hostile to unions, dominate Idaho. Boise is an exception to Idahos Republican rule. Boise Mayor Dave Bieter, a Democrat serving in a nonpartisan position, has enjoyed the support of firefighter unions throughout his political career. Firefighter unions around Idaho and political groups connected to them contributed at least $5,500 to Bieters most recent campaign. Bieter and Walker are longtime friends. Greenhut, a Libertarian, argues that the cost of unionized public services has begun to irritate Democrats, too. During one pension battle, one of the most eloquent speakers against a proposed retroactive pension increase was a liberal Democrat who argued correctly that as pensions begin eating up more and more of her citys budget, there will be far less money available for libraries, social services, road improvements and other programs that were important to her, Greenhut wrote. In 2004, the Fire Departments share of Boises general fund was 22.9 percent. That figure reached 25.2 percent in 2012 and 24.4 percent in 2013. As of late September, fire department spending this year accounted for 25.6 percent of the general fund. Meanwhile, the Police Departments share of the general fund -- still the largest at 26.4 percent -- has declined slightly. Parks and Recreations share fell from 13.3 percent in 2004 to 11.5 percent in 2013. The library systems share has been flat despite opening three branch libraries between 2007 and 2010. Public safety is the largest single budget item we have, and so we know if those arent controlled in a rational basis, we will blow out the budget and not be able to get the other amenities that the citizens want, Eberle said. A MORE RESPONSIBLE UNION Boises firefighter union hasnt engaged in some of the excesses Greenhut writes about. For example, underfunded public union pension systems in California have caused broader problems when the invested portions of those funds didnt perform as hoped and cities had to scrape to find ways to pay retirees. Idaho addressed a similar problem 30 years ago. Cities with professional firefighters werent contributing enough to their retirement accounts. The whole system was on the path to insolvency, Peterson said. Peterson worked for the Association of Idaho Cities at the time and worked with legislators to make sure the system was adequately funded. In September, the Public Employee Retirement System of Idaho announced that the firefighter retirement account had plenty of money in it and reduced the amount that cities have to pay into it. Voters passed a bond Tuesday that authorizes Boise to spend some of the citys roughly $2 million in yearly savings to repay a loan covering the cost of a new firefighter training facility and four new, improved or relocated fire stations. Another of Greenhuts criticisms is that unions continued to push for better pay and benefits when the Great Recession hit, forcing cities to cut back in other areas and pushing them toward bankruptcy. By contrast, Boise firefighters gave up a contractually guaranteed raise in 2012 so that the city could pay its bills without compromising other departments, such as parks and libraries. The city restored the raise in 2013. That was a real step-up on the part of the union for us to help us through, Eberle said. You see whats going on in other parts of the country with unions, and you say, Ill take my union.
Posted on: Mon, 10 Nov 2014 15:05:26 +0000
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