“While I believe our police officers and firefighters deserve every penny, I understand that these salary increases are high in light of our current economic and budgetary situation,” said Jersey City Mayor Jerramiah Healy last week in response to questions from the media regarding the city’s stance on the contracts negotiated between the city’s fire and police unions and city officials.
The new contracts for the members of both unions offer 3 percent retroactive raises for 2009, then raises of 3.3 percent for 2010, 3.4 percent for 2011 and 3.5 percent in 2012.
These contracts were negotiated with the condition that both unions would choose a new health care coverage plan that would save the city over $1 million a year, because the employees will have to contribute money to the plan.
“This is not one of those rich contracts.” – Jerry DiCicco, president of the POBA
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The City Council withdrew the police and fire contracts from the agenda of its March 10 meeting so that the New Jersey Department of Community Affairs (DCA) could review them. Now the DCA has weighed in on the contracts, and the news for police and firefighters is not good.
In a March 31 letter to Mayor Healy and the City Council, Marc Pfeiffer, acting director of the state DCA’s Division of Local Government Services, said the contracts were “simply too expensive.” He said the 13 percent pay raise over four years is “unaffordable” for the city and the taxpayers. He recommended the contracts be amended for more savings before they are approved.
“While it may be ‘comparable’ and consistent with recent settlements of other entities in the area, this contract is simply too expensive and we recommend that the parties go back to the table and negotiate lower increases that are consistent with the city’s fiscal condition,” Pfeiffer said in the letter.
While Pfeiffer judged the choice of the new health care coverage plan positive for lowering costs, he said that the salary increases will erase those savings.
Meanwhile, Healy’s statement said that it would be up to the City Council to decide whether to ratify the contracts. The state’s consent is not needed before granting approval, but the city did allow for a review of both of them since Jersey City was granted $14 million in special state aid earlier this year.
The contracts are scheduled to be back in front of the City Council at its next meeting on Wednesday.
Police: Reasons it’s justified
The unions involved are the Jersey City Police Officers Benevolent Association (POBA) and the International Fire Fighters Association, Local 1066.
Representatives from Local 1066 did not return phone calls to their office for comment, but Jerry DiCicco, president of the POBA, a 700-member union, commented last week.
DiCicco defended the contract as “far ahead of the curve” in terms of achieving the kind of health care savings the state has asked for from public sector unions. Specifically, effective July 1, there will be a new co-payment, for mail order prescription drugs costing $1,000 or more, of $50 per 30-day supply, where previously there was no co-payment.
For retail prescriptions costing $1,000 or more, the co-pay will cost individuals $100 instead of the current $20.
DiCicco also called the contract “reasonable” when compared to the contracts being sought by Hudson County police, police in Bergen County towns, and even Jersey City teachers, who are seeking a 4-plus percent raise each year for four years.
He also said the 500,000 calls for service that the police answer every year justify the contract, which has been pending since the last one expired Dec. 31, 2008.
“When you look at this contract, look though these things, this is not one of those rich contracts,” DiCicco said.
As of September 2009, without factoring in the increases called for in the current contract, a first-year Jersey City police officer earns $46,903. By year seven, that salary goes up to $83,965. If an officer gets to a 25th year of service, they can make $93,844.