Mar 2, 2008 2:08 pm US/Pacific
Vallejo Budget Deal Opposed By 2 Council Members
VALLEJO (CBS 5 / BCN) ―
Vallejo police and firefighters will give up 6.5 percent of an 8.5 raise they received last year and accept 50 percent of leave buyouts as part of a tentative agreement their unions reached with the city to try to avoid bankruptcy, but at least two city council members maintained it is not enough.
Council members Joanne Schivly and Stephanie Gomes told CBS 5 on Sunday that the deal was "very risky and very tenuous" at best. They advocated that the city still proceed with bankruptcy plans.
The City Council will vote Monday night on whether to accept the new labor agreements and the public safety unions would vote on them later next week.
"We don't think that it will solve the problem," Schivly said an interview. "It buys time, but at a great cost," added Gomes.
"The proposal that is on the table for Monday night is the same kind of a quick-fix that has gotten us into the position that we're now in," Shivly contended.
The tentative agreement reached last Thursday afternoon, between the city and the Vallejo Police Officers Association and the International Federation of Firefighters, postponed a City Council vote that evening on a recommendation by City Manager Joseph Tanner that Vallejo file Chapter 9 bankruptcy.
That recommendation came in the wake of a $6 million deficit in the current budget and a $14 million deficit in next year's budget. City officials have said they currently will run out of money by the end of March.
Under the tentative agreement, police and firefighters will receive a 2 percent raise between Saturday and June 30. Their contracts, which expire in 2010, will be extended one year if the unions and the city can reach a new agreement that addresses the city's fiscal solvency by April 22. If there is no new agreement, the one-year contract extension will be null and void.
Twenty police and firefighters who retired in February also will accept 50 percent for compensatory time, sick, holiday and vacation leave. The remaining 50 percent payouts will be deferred to December providing the city does not file for bankruptcy, according to terms of the tentative agreement. Paying only 50 percent by March 21 will save the city $1.45 million, the agreement states.
The firefighters agreed to accept a reduction in the minimum staffing level from 28 to 22 through June 30 and the closure of two fire companies. Vallejo officials agreed to maintain 145 sworn police officers and fill vacancies as they occur under a supplemental agreement.
In his report to the council, Tanner said the tentative agreement with the public safety unions will retain solvency for the next four months while working on a long-term solution over the next 45 days.
The agreements will enable the city to meet its general fund payment obligations through June 30 but do not solve the structural imbalance between revenue and expenditures, Tanner said.
"The intention when we got into this was a long-term fix," Gomes said of the recent discussions with the city's labor unions and other city planning efforts. "It is irresponsible to continue going forward with a plan that is very obviously a sand castle -- any kind of hiccup and it is going to fall apart."
The City Council also will decide on a fiscal emergency plan that calls for eliminating 38 positions over the next four months. This will require 16 layoffs, Tanner said, and will reduce general fund positions 19 percent from the 494 in 2003-2004's budget to 403 positions.
The emergency plan will draw the general fund balance to zero on June 30 with no reserve or contingency money available, Tanner said.
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