The following is written by East Pierce Fire Chief Jerry Thorson. The Courier Herald will publish an article on the layoffs later next week.
How Did We Get Here?
During the recession, East Pierce Fire & Rescue’s (EPF&R) tax revenues were reduced by more than 30%. The department responded by cutting costs, reducing training and public education, and delaying vehicle purchases and maintenance. Employees eliminated and deferred various cost-of-living raises. The department also took $1.1 million out of our Ending Fund Balance (EFB) funds to reduce budget deficits. But the budget cuts, employee concessions, and use of EFB reserve funds were not enough to provide a sustainable budget. Without the M & O levy funds in 2013 and 2014, employee layoffs were all but certain.
With the failure of the M & O levy in 2015, the department lost nearly 14% of its 2015 revenue. Because 84% of the department’s budget is tied to employee salaries and benefits, without employee salary and benefit concessions, the department faces a $970,000 budget deficit.
Negotiations and Budget Meetings
After the levy failure, the department met seven times for more than 30 hours with the Local 3520 Executive Board to discuss possible solutions to this budget crisis. Although there have been positive discussions in these meetings, the department’s leadership and the Local 3520 Executive Board have fundamentally different perceptions on budgets, the use of the Ending Fund Balance and the overall long-term financial stability of the department.
Structuring East Pierce Fire & Rescue for Long-Term Financial Stability
The Board of Commissioners and I are focused on ensuring the long-term financial sustainability and health of East Pierce Fire & Rescue. In order to achieve this goal, we are focused on building a department that can survive at our current funding levels. We cannot budget as if levies and bonds will pass in the future or continue to rely on the EFB as extra revenue to balance the budget each year. Such reckless budgeting would jeopardize our future. We need to focus on long term budget projections and expenditures.
Areas of Disagreement
We need to make hard choices now, to avoid even greater problems in the future. In our meetings, Local 3520 has offered some short-term, one-time solutions to help off-set the projected budget deficit for 2015. The way the concessions proposed by Local #3520 are structured; the costs are simply deferred to the future, further reducing our cash reserves in the EFB. This is not a sustainable solution for our organization.To ensure the long-term health of our department, we have instead proposed the elimination of the 2% Cost of Living Adjustment (COLA) that is due to all Union employees in 2015 under the current Collective Bargaining Agreement and a restructuring of the department’s four Special Ops Teams. Any proposed employee concessions require the Union’s approval. Without this approval, the department cannot institute its long-term solution.Therefore, in an effort to ensure the financial health of the department, and in the absence of concessions that will result in meaningful long-term savings and sustainability, the Board of Fire Commissioners authorized a plan to lower our annual operating costs by reducing the number of non-Union and Union employees through the layoff of seven employees including four (4) firefighter positions, two (2) temporary firefighter positions and one (1) receptionist position. In addition, the Board authorized the elimination of Cost of Living Adjustments for all non-Union employees.This is not what the Board or I want to do. In the end, however, our organization must be built on a sustainable financial base that will not jeopardize our organization’s future and one that will allow East Pierce Fire & Rescue to continue to provide services for our citizens and communities.
