Cheyenne City Council to Vote on Voluntary Buyouts for Police Officers and City Employees Amid Contract Renegotiations

Strategic Insights -

The Cheyenne City Council is set to vote on voluntary buyouts for police officers and city employees as part of ongoing contract renegotiations. Mayor Rick Kaysen met twice with the Cheyenne Professional Firefighters Local 279 to discuss its proposal for an optional buyout incentive for 13 firefighters eligible for retirement. The union's proposal, which Kaysen rejected, would have saved the city nearly $726,000 through the fiscal year 2011 budget.

The union's goal was not to jeopardize public safety but to run lean for a while, said union president Jon Narva. The proposal included offering $600 a month toward health insurance premiums for retirees, freezing all vacancies for a year, and permanently eliminating one firefighter position. Kaysen countered that these savings would be short-lived, and the city would need to hire additional firefighters once the buyouts were complete.

Key Takeaways:

  • The Cheyenne Professional Firefighters Local 279 proposed an optional buyout incentive for 13 firefighters eligible for retirement, which would have saved the city nearly $726,000 through the fiscal year 2011 budget.
  • The union's proposal aimed to "run lean for a while" without jeopardizing public safety, according to union president Jon Narva.
  • The city rejected the union's proposal, instead offering to cut the 1.5% pension raise that firefighters received a year ago and freeze three recently vacated spots, saving just over $100,000 for the rest of the budget year.
  • The city's offer would take the contract to the end of the fiscal year, which ends June 30, while the union is looking to extend the old contract for another year.
  • The city's proposed buyouts for non-union city employees offer $30,000 as a retirement incentive.

Statistics:

  • The proposed buyout for 13 firefighters could save the city nearly $726,000 through the fiscal year 2011 budget.
  • The city's budget for Cheyenne Fire and Rescue is nearly $8.8 million, with payroll accounting for $8.4 million.
  • The long-term cost of offering $600 per month in health insurance premiums for an average of 12 years would be $86,000 per firefighter.
  • A firefighter is 500 times more likely to get cancer than an office worker, according to Narva.

Sources:

  • "Council to vote on voluntary buyouts" by Jodi Rogstad, Wyoming Tribune-Eagle, January 25, 2010.

http://www.wyomingnews.com

  • Wyoming Tribune-Eagle, "Council to vote on voluntary buyouts"