Providence City Council approves proposed firefighters contract

Updated at 7 p.m.

PROVIDENCE – City firefighters would get 4% annual raises in exchange for doubling their contributions toward the city pension fund under a proposed five-year contract approved by the City Council Thursday.

The tentative agreement between the city and the Providence chapter of the International Association of Firefighters also needs the sign-off of Mayor Jorge O. Elorza and the firefighters union to take effect.

The new contract would save the city more than $20 million – based in present day savings – from fiscal 2023 through fiscal 2040 by upping employee contributions to the city pension fund and, in turn, reducing the amount the city has to pay as the employer, according to a fiscal analysis report from Chief Financial Officer Lawrence Mancini. In nominal savings as of fiscal 2040, the city will see its annual pension contribution cut by $36 million, according to the city report.

Providence firefighters currently pay either 8% or 9% of their salaries to the city pension fund, depending on which year they were hired. The five-year contract calls for incrementally increasing their contributions over the next five years, reaching 16% of salaries as of fiscal 2028.

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The increase in pension contributions comes as the city looks to shore up its woefully underfunded pension system, including through a proposed $515 million pension obligation bond under consideration by the R.I. General Assembly.

In exchange, the city will boost pay for its firefighters, with 4% annual raises each year. The annual raises will bring pay for city firefighters in line with the top six other municipalities in the state, and make it more competitive with other regional cities such as New Haven, Conn., and Fall River, according to the finance department report.

Other changes in the tentative agreement include increasing employee contributions to health care plans and creation of an Other Post Employment Benefit Trust to fund OPEB benefits. Taken together, the changes as a whole will cost the city about $10 million over the next five years, according to the finance department.

The current contract is slated to expire June 30.

(UPDATE: Recasts lede and second paragraph to reflect City Council vote, minor edits.)

Nancy Lavin is a PBN staff writer. You may reach her at Lavin@PBN.com.

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