text:
Armed with enough numbers and reports to make most heads spin, Mayor Scott Avedisian announced yesterday that, for the 11th consecutive year, the city has received an "unqualified audit opinion of its finances."
That's positive news in the opinion of City Finance Director Ernest Zmyslinski.
"In terms of independent audit evaluations," Zmyslinski writes in a Feb. 20 memo to the mayor and members of the City Council, "this is the best mark we could receive."
Zmyslinski goes on to highlight that the audit found, as of June 30, 2012, the city's unassigned fund balance totaled $8.3 million. This is an increase of $2.3 million from the prior fiscal year.
That had Avedisian happy.
"I'd be happy with a surplus of one cent," he said, "to say it's $2.3 million is fantastic."
The mayor said the strong financial report "shows [the] people who are running the [city's] departments are taking it very seriously." In particular, he singled out Col. Steven McCartney, chief of police, and David Picozzi, acting director of the Department of Public Works for keeping close tabs on their budgets and consistently coming in on budget or with a surplus. Public Works came in with a $1.2 million surplus for 2012. A persistent problem has been the Fire Department, where overtime costs have consistently exceeded what is budgeted. While Zmyslinski projects that will happen again in the current fiscal year, with the addition of two groups of firefighter trainees (a total of 38 in the next two years), future overtime costs will decline. As the city received a $3.1 million federal grant that will pay for salaries and benefits for new firefighters over the next three years, Avedisian is confident department expenses will come under control.
Also looking ahead, the mayor is hopeful the city will be reimbursed for expenses relating to the Blizzard of 2013. Of the $430,000 budgeted for snow removal, which includes overtime, sand and salt and outside contractors, only $93,000 remains in the account.
A School Department surplus of $2,872,057, which has been reserved for re-apportionment to schools in accordance with state law, accounts for a major portion of the overall increase to the city's surplus. Other areas contributing to the surplus include $578,531 in unbudgeted revenues from building permits, interest fees on taxes, rescue service fees, grant income and the hotel/meal tax. The city's surplus for the year totaled $2.1 million.
Many of the mayor's comments focused on the city's net assets of $53.3 million, which represents a combination of all the money and the value of city property. That amount does not include either the city's water division or the Warwick Sewer Authority, which are separate enterprise funds. The amount reflects unfunded pension liabilities as well as debt owed on school and city bonds. It also includes an "amortized" amount for other post-employment benefits due to retired municipal employees.
The report puts the city's total liability for bonds and loans payable at $170.1 million, a decrease of $11 million from the prior year.
Here we have a Mayor that has been around, how many years, and he CLAIMS that the city has net assets of $53.3 million? What about the unfunded health care liability of approximately $300 Million and never mind the "amortized" portion of the post-retirement benefits due to retired municipal employees, the true number is not the amortized amount BUT the unfunded liability for these employees. From what is shown here, our city has a NEGATIVE NET WORTH of approximately $300 Million and that does not include the liabilities of the water and sewer departments.
Not a good picture.
Roy Dempsey
Scottie's spin machine aided by John Howell and the Warwick Beacon are working overtime. The numbers don't add up.
The unfunded pension cost for the city is appox. $300 million, as Mr. Dempsey noted unfunded healthcare is $300 million, $170 millions for bonds etc. as well as Warwick Sewer Authority debt of $135 million. The city owes $900 Million.
We have all heard about Greece and that country being a financial basket case with 125% of debt to GDP, if Warwick extrapolated their debt it would be close to 300% 0f revenues. Not a pretty picture.
Scottie is a fraud and the Beacon perpetuates his con job by not asking the difficult questions.
The unfunded healthcare is just a number thrown out there. Let's say the employees remain overall in good health and don't use a lot of the covereage that would mean less costs right ? I think like most of the country the words unfunded and liability is being loosely thrown around. The national debt at 16 trillion and growing isn't that liability as well ?? As long as those debts are stretched out over the course of lets say a 30 year mortgage it is sustainable. It is a loan against the city. The city isn't expected to pay it all at once. Not only that but the costs could go down like I mentioned. The economy is likely to improve double of what it is today. So, I think this article is accurate for the time period mentioned. I have a problem with the concept of unfunded, and liability words being thrown around when there are more variables involved. If the city was in trouble it would have already happened like central falls. The storm has been weathered. I'm thankful Warwick is in such good shape as a tax payer.
FedUp is an angry old man with no life . . .the other guy is a bit odd. .fed up has nothing but bitterness . . . mean old man . . .probably flies the confederate flag . . . .Dempsey is a "the captain" stooge
Just stick to the numbers and the facts Mr. Buffoon and the city may survive this economy. Cover ups by this Mayor will not only harm residents but will ultimately backfire on city employees. Remember, it is only math.
Ignore the Mayor's employees aka "captain baffoon"......standard tactic of the Mayor and his cronies.....attack messenger and not the message....
Notice the fire dept. is over budget again....same old story....wait to next year and it will be solved.....Mayor has no plan to address this overtime abuse.....Scottie is an empty suit.
ummm standard tactic of Fedup . .aka RD. . .attach the Mayor at all costs . . .RD is an empty life; miserable old man
Fed up can you read, they just hired 38 people. That will stop overtime. Don't let the mayor fool you. It's cheaper to pay overtime than to pay for more personnel. They finally reached the break even point where it's cheaper now to hire. The unfunded liability Roy is crying about is crazy. It's a liability. My mortgage is a liability. Can I pay the 250k I owe on my house by tomorrow. No. I pay for it over time with money I make. I thought you had atleast half a brain..
By the way 100% of the cities and towns in the country have some sort of unfunded liability. Roy makes it seem like warwick is some odd place. Seems to me it's the only well run city in this state and I didn't vote for the mayor...
OK, here is the point. The Mayor states that Warwick's assets exceed its liabilities by 53.3 Million. He makes the city look good. If he is going to give us a Balance Sheet which includes all assets of the city, he should include all of Warwick's liabilities (health care, water, sewer dept. debt) etc. He did not. I will grant you the liabilities are paid over time, that is not the point. The point is that the Mayor conveniently left out amounts that the city is currently liable for. It made him look good and is not accurate.
It is accurate Roy . . . .I have seen you, with that big belly you are a HUGE liability to health care . .the measely 15k a year you pay in insurance (if u pay at all) is not even close to what it will cost to clear those hardened arteries teeming with saturated fats that you consume. You are a liability to me and the entire US. Do you declare that liability?? You should be paying a much higher HC premium; instead your care is subsidized by the rest of us that maintain healthy lifestyles.
Roy, what cities if any add their unfunded liabilities to their balance sheet. NONE... They are unfunded!!!! Providence didn't say they have a net balance of negative 1.5 billion this year. Smarten up Roy.
I am tired of subsidizing Roy's healthcare!
Good Point SteveD. Providence is a Bankrupt city. Because of its Billion Dollar liabilities and its limited revenue base it relies on the rest of Rhode Island to pay its bills.
mr cote how many times have you visited a known felon from the water department in prison? do you have something to hide? and still following city and sanitation workers around? when will you give up?
Overall the city is well run.
The voters continue to return the mayor to office by landslides and last year the democrats didn't even field a candidate.
My point Roy is that cities don't put UL on their balance sheet.. So stop the whining. We are all aware that its out there..
Not whining SteveD. The fact is that people are not "aware" of the implications of this debt and that Mayor's like Avedisian are very comfortable not disclosing, discussing and debating the issue. There is a reason that these numbers are not fully disclosed on the municipal level. The headline in this story proves my point. Avedisian conveniently does not disclose the significant liabilities of this city and "touts" the cities financial position. The financial position of this city is based on ALL ASSETS and ALL LIABILITIES not a selective few.
I'm not a FRIEND of the mayor but when has he not disclosed these costs. He has restructured deals and debts. Just because its not the topic of the day in the media is why no ones talking about it. You had to have lived under a rock the last two years to not hear that the state has a problem with the liabilities. GINA THE GREAT is gonna run for governor simply on that platform. Even though she gave all the investments to her friends...
There is no need for the personal attacks here.
I agree with Roy regarding the unfunded liabilities. And I am going to demonstrate to you by presenting facts, why they need to be considered in terms of the effect these liabilities will have not only on future budgets and taxes, but on Warwick employees.
If you choose to ignore them so be it. It's your future raises, benefits and retirement plans that will be affected. Many of us can chose to leave the city and the state for that matter. Who will pay the bills then?
First point: Simply stating financial numbers from one year to the next doesn't give a true picture of the financial condition of the city. In fact it allows politicians in the city (Mayor Avedisian) to manipulate you and paint a far different picture of what is really happening financially in the city. To get a clearly picture you must identify and examine the past to see the trends that have developed in the city. You do this by studying past budgets and actuarial reports.
Here are some facts to ponder.
Fact: Examining financial statements over the last 5 years it shows that city liabilities continue to increase while overall assets decrease.
Fact: From 2007 to the 2013, local tax dollars allocated to the city budget have increased 52.8 percent (from $63.9 million to $97.7). Warwick school budget has increased only $5.5 million or 4.9 percent overall.
Fact: In 2007 63.9 percent of the budget was allocated to schools and 36.1 to city budget. Today the ratio is 55 percent to schools, 45% to city.
Conclusion: Continued property tax increases in the City of Warwick can be directly attribute to city spending, not schools.
Fact: Since 2007 - $27.8 million in additional revenue has been allocated to the city budget. Here is the breakdown of where that money has been spent:
Employee Benefits $21.6 million or 77.7%.
Physical Resources(DPW), $2.6 million or 9.3%.
Public Safety $6.4 million or 23%.
Executive & Administrative -1.7 million or -6.1%.
Social Service -1.1 million or -3.9%.
Conclusion: Almost 80 cents of every new tax dollar collected pays for employee legacy costs.
Fact: Actuarial Accrued Liability for all pension plans is $628,776,187. For OPEB(Healthcare) it is $283,220,644 for a combined total of $911,996,831. Factoring outstanding bonds puts the figure over $1 BILLION.
Fact: According to projections in the most available published actuarial reports, taxpayer contributions to just the pension plans will increase from approximately $23 million in 2012 to $46 million in 2013. Retiree healthcare costs are predicted to increase over 75% over that same time period.
Conclusion: In order to fund these liabilities more and more areas of the budget will either be level funded or cut. Property taxes will continue to rise with a majority of the money allocated to pay for these liabilities. This is already occurring and is an undisputed fact.
What does that mean to the city and school employees? Consider this. In the past year the school budget was level funded yet property taxes increased. Police, fire and municipal employees did not receive a raise and pay more for healthcare. So what areas of the budget was the new tax dollars spent? That question was answered above.
For the next two years city employees will not receive a raise. Does anyone believe we will not receive a tax increase this year? Why, to pay annual required contributions associated with pension and healthcare liabilities.
What is the philosophy of the administration to reduce pension liabilities? Is it to suspend COLA for retired employees? That answer is NO! So is it fair that active employees receive no raises for the next three years, pay more for healthcare co-pays while retired employees in some plans receive 3% compounded COLA's and free healthcare?
Read this excerpt from a report submitted by the city actuarial experts to the City Finance Director on November 8, 2012:
"One factor that is expected to help dampen the growth of the liability is a recent agreement for minimal to no salary increases for current active members for the next three years. If the three-year pay freezes are realized in future valuations, the City contributions (taxpayers) into all of its pension plans could be lower by as much as $5 million per year when compared to current projections".
Translation: if the mayor can continue to give no raises to active employee, we can take the additional tax dollars collected to pay retired employee liabilities.
If this doesn't cause you to be concerned and outraged, then nothing will.
So instead of ridiculing people like Roy Dempsey and Fedup, stop, look at the facts because the bottom line is that the current people in office will be long gone when these ticking time bombs go off.
My offer stands to meet anyone interested in reviewing this information. I will buy the first round.
Fact: Since 2007 - $27.8 million in additional revenue has been allocated to the city budget. ------ should read,
Fact: Since 2007 - $27.8 million in new spending has ocuured in the city budget.
Clarification of above fact with below fact: In the same time period the state has cut aid to the City of Warwick. The city has substituted the money cut from that state by increasing local taxes and allocating most of it to the city budget. So while total tax dollars allocated to the city equal $33.8 million, new spending represents $27.8 million.
Fact: From 2007 to the 2013, local tax dollars allocated to the city budget have increased 52.8 percent (from $63.9 million to $97.7).
Bob.. My point is there isn't a city out there that has ths as a line item on its yearly balance sheet. What is your solution? Give me facts not the number run around...
Here is an analogy why we must look at liabilities when considefring how future money will be raised and spent in the city and school budget.
Let's say you have 5 credit cards. Four of the cards have a small balance on them but the last card has a huge balance many times that of the other cards. If you devise a plan to put more dollars toward paying down the last card it could cause you to short change the necessary payments to the other cards. Also how will diverting all these dollars effect other ongoing expenses in the home budget. For example expenses for kids, home repairs, cars, unforeseen emergencies. Do you just cut them or ignore the water pouring through the roof?
My point is you need to understand the total liabilities in the city and how much it will cost to fund all these plans in the short term and longer term 5, 10, 15 years from now. You also need to forecast future budgetary expenses for the things we need to operate the city and schools today and at least five years from now.
During the budget process I asked Mayor Avedisian and the school superintendent where is the five budget plan. They isn't any. We budget one year into the future and don't have a clue as to what effect decisions today will have tomorrow.
For example where is the plan to fund the capital expenses associated with purchasing the resource police, fire, municipal and school department will need so employees can do their jobs? The last thing we need is for police and firefighters to get hurt because they are using obsolete equipment or for our kids and school teachers to be at risk because we can't proper repair school buildings. Where are the long term funding plans to meet these obligations? Where is the long term plan to address the crumbling roads and building in the city? There is none.
To Steve D point about hiring new fire fighters using federal money to pay for them for the first three years. With all the money that will be needed three years from now for annual retirement benefits (on the books as liabilities), raises for current city and school employees, capital expenses, where is the money going to come from to pay the new firefighter salaries after the federal money dries up?
The numbers don't add up if you think a maximum tax increase will cover all these expenses each year.
@SteveD "What is your solution"?
To answer your question, no one is even close to the point of making specific suggestions on how to fix the problem until wel agree that there is a problem and sit down with experts and create a model that forecasts, based on reasonable assumptions, what the cost will be in the short term and the long term for retiree benefits, active employee costs and all other costs in the city and school budget and how much additional revenue we can raise without driving business and property owners away.
You and the many others who believe or in the case of the administration presenting a case that there is no problem - is the problem.
I have never said there wasn't a problem bob. I think you are blowing it out of proportion. There is a plan to pay for that "bad credit card".. There are very few employees still in that one. Is it a problem YES. The reason they don't have a 5 or 10 year plan is that there are hundreds of variables (market, health, number of retires, cost of insurance, etc...). We are coming out of the worst market performance in 80 years. It's not going to right itself overnight. The new guys the FD hired needed to be hired no matter what, meaning it just saved the city 3 million dollars. The grant pays their share into retirement for 3 years... Again my point is we are all aware there is a problem. I'm not sure why Roy thinks the mayor is hiding something.
And those new hires are in a brand new retirement system...
It's not easy for people to up and leave Warwick and the State. It takes major planning, a new job some where, re-locating, re-locating away from family and friends. Where is the grass greener in the U.S. ?????? Granted RI has its issues but there are a lot worse off places such as California, Illiionis, NJ, to name a few. The city employees Bob have already taken a large financial hit. No raises, increased costs in medical to name a few. I agree with Bob that retired employees shouldn't receive COLA's. Free healthcare I think is reasonable for retirees.
@SteveD - Did you read this point: Since 2007 - $27.8 million in new spending has ocuured in the city budget.
Employee Benefits $21.6 million or 77.7%. Physical Resources(DPW), $2.6 million or 9.3%. Public Safety $6.4 million or 23%. Executive & Administrative -1.7 million or -6.1%. Social Service -1.1 million or -3.9%.
You still think I'm blowing this out of proportion?
@Michael2012 - thanks for making my point. Don't be surprised if this is the new norm in Warwick. Appears that experts are recommending more financial hits on active city employees to pay for retireed city employee benefits. Your throught?
Excerpt from a report submitted by the city actuarial experts to the City Finance Director on November 8, 2012:
"One factor that is expected to help dampen the growth of the liability is a recent agreement for minimal to no salary increases for current active members for the next three years. If the three-year pay freezes are realized in future valuations, the City contributions into all of its pension plans could be lower by as much as $5 million per year when compared to current projections".
What's your point Bob. Round up all the retirees and tell them to pay more. I guarantee they are gonna go tell you to go do something that's anatomically impossible. I'm not sure how you deal with them, they also have a gripe as to what contract they retire with. I'd be upset too. Current workers are doing all they can to help out. Only time will tell. But again. We all know there are problems..
I'm not a retired worker... FYI
I've been reading this blog for months and I felt it's time to join the fray.
Anyone who just followed the numbers provided by Mr. Cushman and Dempsey see that the Mayor has the city on the brink. The city workers better keep his hoime number on speed dial when their retirement checks start bouncing. They won't get a pension or healthcare when they retire....it is unaffordable.
It is deplorable the name calling that goes on....you can determine SteveD is a firemen and the "captainisabaffoon" works in the Mayor's office aka MC.
I surprised the residents have demonstrated such restraint.....the person they defend lives in a glass house.
What if these individuals are correct? What if there is a 50% chance that what they are warning will happen?
i would think as a city employee they wouldn't simply show such blind trust in the mayor.
I know a retired Central Falls employee who use to say the same thing five years ago.
Its not a personal attack . .its a fact . .he is worried about healthcare liabilities . .yet he does nothing to reduce his liability on the system . .therefore he will eventually be an enormous liabilty on the system which we will all pay for - it is personal because it effects my wallet . .and yours. He can;t expect to bring up the issue then ignore it.
Are you having a meltdown Mr. Buffoon?
Warwck like every city in Rhode Island has pension and retiree heatlcare problems. Things have been done in Warwick to reduce the problems but more needs to be done. One thing that everyone should agree upon is that the information needed to have a debate exists and is not hidden. That drives me crazy when people say they don't have information.
Thats the point I was trying to make to Roy. What City workers are showing a blind eye BFC? The city takes money out of their checks every week, what they do with it THEY HAVE NO CONTROL OVER. They are taking pay cuts/no raises/increased health care. Go talk to the retirees if you feel so inclined its not the current workers job to talk to them. But dont say the city workers arent doing enough or paying attention...
@GordianKnot: The facts is I have provided resulted from extensive investigation and analysis of the data, something that this administration and most members of the city council refuses to do. When Councilman Steve Merolla passed legislation to bring in experts to analyze and provide further details on these issues, the Mayor vetoed the legislation.
My point is this. There is much more information that needs to be developed. As I stated previously, long term trending data not only related to the pension and OPEB expenses but data related to long term budgeting and capital expenses and revenue projections needs to be considered.
However if the goal by this administration is to hide the extent of the problem until those in charge are gone from Warwick politics, the current philosophy of claiming that the problem has been solved and doing everything possible to keep the skeletons buried is the right political strategy.
To STEVED argument that there is a plan in place - consider this fact, the Mayor's pension reforms did not cut one penny from the $900,000,000 in current liabilities. So if we are expending so much of our new revenue to pay these liabilities as they materialize each year, what is going to happen when the amount of new dollars needed to fund these old liabilities continue to grow to a point that no money is left to pay for current expenses (including current employee salary increases and benefits)?
Read my additional thought published in the Providence Journal regarding the short sightedness of Warwick employee in signing the most recent contracts.
Copy and paste this link in your browser.
bob just think back how much you gave to the teachers
Mr. FASTFREDWARD4 , here are the facts regarding financial aspects of the teacher contract compared to city contracts over the same 2003 - 2009 time period.
School teacher contact
1) 18.5 percent increase in pay.
2) No cap on out of pocket prescription drug cost.
3) Retirement healthcare benefit for teacher only after 30 years of service.
4) Retiree healthcare benefit terminates at age 65. NO future cost to city.
5) For the first time ever in city history, the contract required retired school employees pay for health benefits. No other contract to this day on the city side has that provision.
City employee's contract 2003 - 2009
1) 21.25 percent increase in pay.
2) Cap of $600 on annual out of pocket prescription drug cost. City healthcare experts testified at the time that this cost over $1 million annually.
3) Retirement healthcare for both employee and spouse after working for only 10 years of service.
4) Retirement healthcare benefit for LIFE.
5) Retiree Healthcare benefit is free.
According to expert actuarial reports, based on these contract stipulations: CITY HEALTHCARE future cost is over $300,000,000 or 5 TIMES greater than school cost. This is the real financial time bomb in the city driving up cost every year.
Giving active employee a Cost of Living Increases of 3% over a 6 year period of time isn't. BTW: All city retired employees received a greater raise then the school teachers over the same period of time. Do you think retired employees should receive larger raises then the people currently employed? I won't hold my breath for your answer.
Take a look at the administration's record during that same time period as to what he suggested we give to the teachers at the time. Here is one sample: [The mayor suggested that the School Committee and teachers "accept whatever universal language [was] adopted in our police, fire and municipal contracts" and salary increases "be in line with other municipal contracts," Warwick Beacon, October 25, 2005].
You're critical of the contract the school committee ratified? Imagine we took the mayor's advice and mirrored police, fire and municipal contracts and included the lifetime healthcare provision. Do you think we should have listen to the Mayor's suggestion? Doubt you will answer this question.
I don't take pleasure in beating you down online Freddy. It's actually not that difficult. Rather if you want to have a real discussion of the city and school finances I will engage you with comprehensive concise facts, as opposed to your juvenile personal attacks.
My suggestion, FAST FREDDY, hit the pause button in your brains ongoing angry thought process. REWIND, take a couple of deep breaths and do some homework to compare the city versus school expenses. If you are capable of doing that and can present these facts in writing on this blog, I will engage in a point/counter point discussion, otherwise I won't continue to waste my time.
Warwick had more residents in 1970 than it did at the 2010 census. Warwick had more than twice the students in its school at its peak. If you can't recognize that Warwick has serious problems then you probably don't want to. Thriving cities gain population, they don't lose it. Young families move into financially stable cities with good schools. If as the mayor says the city is in sound financial shape, he won't have to raise taxes. Anybody want to bet the farm on any chance of that happening.
YIKES! We are entering a zone that reminds me of Jimmy Carter discussing nuclear proliferation with 9 year old Amy. Regarding unfunded liabilities in this State plus the number of items over the last 20 years that have been moved out of capital budgets to bonded debt and yes we do have serious problems. Don't think for a second that a copy of the Central Falls decision hasn't occupied a space on every Mayor or Town Managers desk as a possible resolution. Put another way, because the unfunded liability isn't included as part of a budget and only garners attention when an actuary or the Auditor General speaks is like going to Truro on Cape Cod during the summer and saying "Sure, I know great whites are around, but I don't see a fin therefore its OK to go swimming." Cushman is right why politicians don't want a 5 or 10 year look into the future for projections...They can't handle the truth and fear the public backlash once the house of cards and Madoff accounting principles are exposed.
So what does it mean when an entity receives a "unqualified audit opinion"? Here is a exerpt from wikipedia definition:
[The most frequent type of report is referred to as the "Unqualified Opinion", and is regarded by many as the equivalent of a "clean bill of health" to a patient, which has led many to call it the "Clean Opinion".... ]
Translation: Warwick met the acceptable reporting requirements in the preparation of its Financial Statements. Most entities do.
However let's examine the other part of the definition: "but in reality it is not a clean bill of health, because the Auditor can only provide reasonable assurance regarding the Financial Statements, not the health of the company itself,or the integrity of company records not part of the foundation of the Financial Statements".
This means that the "Unqualified Opinion" given to an entity is not based on other important financial matters that are not required to be reported in the Financial Statement. This includes UNFUNDED LIABILITIES related to pension and OPEB not reported.
It also means the entiity could be on the verge of bankruptcy even through the financial report was prepared according to standards.
Here is a link to the Central Falls audit report from 2006. Copy and paste it in your browser. Then turn to page 64 where the auditor gives the city the same "Unqualified Opinion" Warwick just received. .
Good point Bob. An "Unqualified Opinion" should be EXPECTED and not be considered the "best mark" as if we (Warwick) have reached new heights in accounting and financial reporting. Nothing to do with the potential financial problems of this city and more to do with our debits equal our credits and the books can be reconciled.
Roy, as a CPA who has undoubtedly read hundreds of these reports, I appreciate you confirming my assessment.
Hopefully John Howell, Meg Frasier and the rest of the Beacon editors read these posts. They might learn a thing or two the next time they pick up their pad to write an article on these issues, instead of being a scribe for the Mayor and being an accomplice to this cover-up. But that that might be considered bashing by some, right John?
As for FAST EDDY or was it FREDDY and rest of the posters, no comment on this information. Not surprised. You should be thanking else for giving you a clue and a peak into what lies ahead for this city unless taxpayers and employees demand change from the politicians who run this city.
Bob, why would any of the city workers believe a guy with a masters degree who works in the business every day? Its so much easier to believe the high school drop out union leaders that tell them exactly what they want to hear to keep proliferating the mayors agenda and promises. What I dont understand is that at every council meeting and more importantly, at the budget hearings, I have never seen a union member whether it be police , fire, or municipality, ask one question of financial relevance. It would appear that although they bash you and Roy and others on this blog, that they are intimidated to ask a question in the public forum. Is that because they are trully uneducated on the subject matter that effects their future, or is it because they fear the retaliation from the unions? Either way it pans out, since they are unable to cast a question of merit in public, and you continually do so with facts and figures that are not disputable, a reasonable person would conclude that you are in fact looking out for their best interest, in addition to looking out for the taxpayers best interest by posing sound questions backed by numbers and fact. It is a shame that they dont take you up on your generous offer of a beer and a cordial chat. I think that if they did they just might learn the ugly facts and then question the leadership. Maybe then the "us vs. them" mentality would be come "were all in it together". I for one thank you for the enourmous amount of work that you do on your own time educating and bringing these issues to light.
Bob that link didn't work for me. I'd like to read it. What did the latest contract mean to the employees? As I understand it they really got hammered. No raises, pay a lot more, etc... are you saying they shouldn't had agreed to it ??? I follow the beacon, projo, and other media closely and do a lot of reading so I try to stay informed as a concerned tax payer but it all is difficult to understand and comprehend. Why are things so bad? The stock market has been at 14,000... record highs. Shouldn't those pension plans be cranking out high returns as they were projected to do ? The sky was falling during the recession and when the dow was 8,700. To me it seems too simplified to say there is too much unfunded liablility. Unfunded when ? Do you expect to have no debt at all ? After all isn't that the American way? Look at the national debt. Our leaders don't care. They keep allowing the debt ceiling to be raised. So I ask is the sky really falling ?? or is this just a political or personal scare tactic. I'm trying to remain open minded and neutral as a tax payer. To me the problem is over staffed and bloated departments. Do we really need 15 fire fighters to respond for every call ? Does the dpw really need all those employees ? Does the police department really need all those different higher ranking officers? There needs to be some accountability in the city. What do other cities and towns across the state have? I bet West Warwick, Coventry, East Greenwich, and may be even Cranston aren't as bloated or top heavy.
Fenceman I agree with you but I have trouble digesting that the problem is as bad as Bob makes it out to be. Are there variables involved that Bob is not taking into consideration? Is his scenerio the worst case scenerio? For example, let me use global warming for instance. Is global warming really going to be that bad ? or is it going to be just a inconvience to some, mainly to people who like to live 50 feet from the ocean. I want to know is the unfunded liability really that bad, or if variables such as the stock market, life expentencies (lower than expected), increased revenue as the economy recovers fully and more taxes are flowing naturally into the city coffers. I think Bob should do more work on this and figure out all the variables other than just worst case.
Bob do we really need all these schools in the city ??
Are any city and towns in RI with zero unfunded balances?
wow work 10 years and get healthcare for employee and spouse for life !! I can see putting in a full career of 20 years or more but only 10 years ! That is a sweet deal ! I also agree cola's during retirement is wrong if current employees are taking hit after hit, and no raises. You don't have to be an expert to know that is messed up ! Bottom line is this. City and State workers should do what every one else does and that is don't put all your eggs in one basket !!! Other investments should compliment the pension and retirement system. Whether it be investment in commodities such as gold and silver, or real estate, or perhaps a IRA, or even saving bonds. I don't think any pension system was meant to be all inclusive. If I were a employee for a town, city, or state than I sure as heck would have other means to save for retirement other than banking on a pension to get me through the golden years. Pensions are nice. There are pensions in the private sector. But, the people who are finacially smart have a diversified nest egg and certainly in these troubling times it woule be ignorant and stupid not to have other investments. Even social security is in question !
Providence Journal: Misguided sacrifice by Warwick unions
by ROBERT CUSHMAN
The City of Warwick and its police, fire and municipal unions recently agreed to contracts that included provisions for no raises and increases in health-care cost sharing over three years. According to one union president, job security and preservation of pension benefits played a role in the sacrifices made in accepting the contract.
On the face of it, how could anyone argue against such reasoning?
One needs to look no further then Stockton, Calif., to answer that question.
In the past, Stockton employees accepted similar terms, believing the money they gave up would pay for future benefits. Today, more than 25 percent of its police officers, 30 percent of its firefighters and 40 percent of all other city employees have been terminated. As a result of fiscal mismanagement and outright deception by city leaders, those promised benefits are also now in jeopardy. The city just filed for bankruptcy.
Could Warwick employees be facing the same future? Some signs suggest the city is already experiencing the same fiscal problems that occurred in Stockton years ago.
For example, with a population 3.5 times the size of War-wick, Stockton's unfunded health-care liability, at $417 million, is much lower per capita than Warwick's $300 million health-care liability. Factoring in pension liabilities and outstanding bonds, Warwick's total debt is over $1 billion.
That number will soon grow exponentially when new government accounting standards require the use of a more realistic rate of return on pension investments. That didn't stop Warwick administration officials from quelling the apprehension of city employees at the budget hearing by announcing to them huge first-quarter pension investment returns, even though city officials knew that over the last15 years no plan has met the expected return. The crowd erupted in a standing ovation, believing the plans were in good shape.
Moody's, the credit rating agency, is changing how it accounts for reported pension debt precisely because other government leaders have similarly misrepresented liabilities. This will result in a massive increase in the annual required contributions to fund benefits and will overwhelm the ability of taxpayers to fund these plans. The harm will be felt across the country as municipal bond ratings are cut.
Warwick pension plans made national news when Eileen Nor-cross, a senior research fellow with the Mercatus Center at George Mason University, examined the effect of the city's using a low-risk rate to calculate its pension obligations and the effect it will have on the budget.
The National Review Online reporting on Norcross's finding stated that "the main message is that if Warwick wasn't engaging in discount-rate gimmicks and other actuarial tricks, 75 percent of the town's budget should be dedicated to health-care and pension spending. For the city to fully fund its pensions, it must increase its annual contributions threefold. That means cutting a gigantic amount of 'other' spending."
Already, local taxes to support the city budget have increased more than 52 percent since 2007. City spending is at an all-time high. Education spending is below 2008 levels and has been level funded four out of the last five years. Over the last eight years, less than 8 cents for every new dollar allocated to the city budget has been spent on non-personnel related items.
One need only drive around town to see the effect of eliminating the street repaving budget, and the effects of cuts to public-works projects, and elderly, youth, recreation and social-service programs.
Last month, Councilwoman Camille Vella-Wilkingson made matters worse with legislation that requires Warwick to approve a budget that allocates funds equal to actuarial required pension payments, regardless of the consequences it will have on employment levels and other municipal programs and services.
Mayor Scott Avedisian's pension-reform legislation, enacted last year, only affected employees hired after July 2012. The net $1 million savings over the next 10 years that were touted by him are dwarfed by the $25 million in additional revenue that will be needed.
The problem in Warwick and municipalities throughout the state is that political and union leaders have failed to make the changes necessary to create an honest, sustainable system for the taxpayer and the employee. Instead, they promote a false sense of security for active employees whose disposable income is reduced while retired employees receive an automatic 3 percent raise each year and all pay nothing for their health care. That simply is not fair.
The National Review said it best: "Unfortunately, at this point, Mayor Scott Avedisian, like many others, prefers denial to sound accounting and budgeting. Mayors, like governors and congressmen, do not like hard choices and spending cuts. That's too bad, because if the city keeps its head in the sand, it is likely to experience a severe crisis within the next 10 years."
Robert Cushman, a Democrat, is a former Warwick city councilman and former chairman of the School Committee.
Michael the best way for me to answer your questions is for you to view this presentation:
Once you open to video, click "More" under the Description. You will find a link to a hard copy report that's goes along with the video. Here is the link to the document if that doesn't work.
If you have time then listen to this presentation at last years budget hearing by myself and Mr. Durand, who also is very knowledgeable on this subject matter.
When this all blows up in our faces (although taxes increasing over 50% in six years should be a heads up) and the mayor goes to retiree's to save the city from bankruptcy, I expect StevieD to be the first president of the Robert Cushman fan club. BTW a republican mayor that has such a great relationship with the unions does not have the taxpayers best interest at heart.
50? That does not even include the significant increase in our car taxes. My overall Warwick taxes went up 14% two years ago.
Michael2012, Bob Cushman is not looking at the worst case scenario, he is looking at the facts and figures from official documnets and has plotted them on a very easy to read chart. In particular, he has noted each page of every official document where the information has been obtained. His data is very difficult to refute, hence the reason that people like the mayor and others on the mayors staff will not engage him in intelligent debate. I would encourage you to read the data that he has made available. again, it is not "HIS" data, it is data obtained from official documents.
Pertaining to the stock market. I would suggest that you do a bit or fesearch on 2 gentlemen. Gerald Celente and Jim Rogers. These are 2 very well respected long term financial anylists and trend predictors. Take a look at what they have to say about the market vs the average person. Here are 2 links that have multiple videos and news clips from major news organizations. You cant ignore these factors.
You are also correct with your assertion that departments are overstuffed with personell. Yet we just added 9 more firefighters. In the last 2 years the city consued 6.4 million dollars of firefighter overtime. Due to what? Not public safety, not increased calls, due to a union benefit called minimum manning. For 25 years I have heard that if we add more firefighters we will cut the overtime costs. When has that happened?? Now in this instance, the city got a 3.1 million dollar grant to hire more firefighters. In 2 years that money is gone. Now, here is a simple question, does the fire dept. budget increase or decrease? Lets not forget about healthcare costs, pensions and post employmnet benefits. Is it one for one? In other words, are they filling vacant spots or are 9 people retireing? I would bet my house that the budget does not go down. Every department is overstaffed but more importantly there is no accountability.
I'll never be a Cushman fan, too much hot air. If he were so good at what he does why is he always FORMER (school committee, council, etc..)
Let's get the record straight.....the previous blogger Steve D. has restored to name calling like usual.....can't never discuss the issues because he doesn't understand them....people like myself admire the work Mr Cushman and Dempsey have done educating the general public about the horrible fiscal shape the Mayor has placed us.....we will have their backs and will respond in kind with the same lack of respect Steve D and
the captainisabaffoon aka MC in the Mayor's office do. I don't understand why the would want to because of the big glass house the Mayor's lives in.
What names and what does "can't never" mean?
Reality, if we have to face off against uneducated people like yourself, I'm not worried. So really LET'S GET THE RECORD STRAIGHT... Hahahahahahahahah
Restored to name calling!!!! Have you even been to public school?
Steve D.....hope to see you at city hall at the microphone articulating your smarts.....I never attend but for your performance I'll will....why haven't I ever heard of you getting up and letting everyone see who you are like Mr. Cushman and Dempsey.....are you afraid you'll having nothing to say......your lack of guts speaks volumnes.
Steve D......everyone you have castigated on this blog are not afraid to get up at city hall and take the heat from city workers like yourself and articulate their positions but nobody has heard you or "the captainisabaffoon" ever speak......why no guts.....stop hidding behind the blog and be a man.....as stated we will no longer allow Mr. Cushman, Mr. Dempsey or others be subjected to your vitriol without pushback.
Let's us know of your coming out presentation at city hall....we'll all be there.
Steve D,,,,,,,when is the date,,,,,when ????????
Steve D, too much hot air? Anyone with an opinion can be called the same including yourself right? What's your fixation on former.
We have Former Presidents, soon have a Former Pope and someday you will be a Former Firefighter. At that point will that put a blemish on your career? In those cases its actually an Honorable title.
Grow up STEVE. How old are you anyway? I could expect this from someone maybe in their teenage years, but an adult firefighter?
Here is my challenge to you Steve, if your man enough to engage and have the intelligences to go toe to toe with me in discussing real issues related to Warwick - Bring it on Steve. But keep this in mind, I won't need to resort to cheep shots and name calling to prove to everyone that you like FAST FREDDY really aren't capable of having a gentlemanly, intellectual discussion and in fact you really don't have a clue what is going on the city and unfortunately for you it is going to affect you a whole lot worse then me.
Steve D.....still waiting for the date of your coming out presentation at city hall.....make sure you have your city worker buddies there to support you....we'll be there for sure to hear your rambling.
Steve D.......Am I the only one who has noticed Steve D. hasn't been heard from since the challenge of presenting his thoughts at the microphone at city hall.....what's a matter Stevie....don't have the guts....you're quick to belittle Mr. Cushman and Dempsey on the blog but you tremble when you are called out to confront them at city hall. Where I grew up you were called a coward.
As stated, people who admire taxpayers like Dempsey, Cushman and als. will no longer give you and MC at city hall a free ride. We will adapt your obnoxious ways. I hope "thecaptainisabaffoon" continues his rhetoric because I can't wait to start informing the public as to what goes on in the Mayor's glass house.
At least I use my name reality. I doubt your first name is Reality!!! Lots of talk from a coward that doesn't use a real name...
What thoughts do I need to present?
How about these for a few Steve?
Thoughts that demonstrate you are knowledgeable of the facts associated with this discussion.
Thoughts that demonstrate you are capable of having an intelligent point/counter point discussion instead of resorting to juvenile insults and personal attacks.
Thoughts based on facts you have researched that support your argument.
Thoughts that display the intellect we expect from a Warwick Firefighter.
Thoughts that demand the respect of any and all citizens reading your comments, rather than embarrassing all the hard working men and women in the Warwick Fire department by writing posts comparable to a pre-teen adolescent using social media to bully another classmate.
I wouldn't know Dempsey or Cushman if I tripped over them, however, I do know numbers and a bit about the law...Word of advice when picking an argument with someone who is your intellectual superior on a particular subject, put down the shovel and stop digging the hole you are standing in. Also, I have no idea who CM or MC or Stevied or any of these other folks are other than they are supposedly city employees, but a word of warning, if you are on city time and are writing on blogs, doing online shopping, putting pencils or papers from work in your pocket, that is called "theft of service" and any on the ball citizen can file an ethics complaint or a complaint with the AG...Just an FYI. As for continuing the argument regarding numbers with Dempsey and Cushman, it's kinda like the Pilgrim Patriots playing the New England Patriots in football...It will never end well...Cut your loses, they are way ahead of you on this subject matter.
Steve D........I like everyone else are sick and tired of your whining and your demeaning characterizations of other people. Your ramblings are meaningless.
Taxpayers who admire people like Dempsey and Cushman will no longer going to sit idly by and let you and "thecaptainisabaffoon" make personal attacks.
What we want is for you to get up at city hall and explain how the Mayor's excessive benefit giveaway is going to paid for. That's the only time we want to hear from you Stevie.
Time to put up or SHUT UP Steve.
Name please Reality?
SeveD,.....Time to put up or SHUT UP !!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I'll keep working on opening those links, I have an older personal computer so sometimes the links don't work for me for some odd reason, but without even opening some guys opinion about the stock market let me say this. The stock market has always been a good place to invest money. Yes it goes down at times but that is the time to buy !! Not now. Any one who is buying stocks now with a record high dow is setting themselves up for a loss !! Now I don't know how the city invests the money to grow. But I can tell you one of my mutual funds I have is up 31% since I bought it when the dow was 8,700 3 years ago or so. When the dow drops I will buy more. I don't believe in the theory to buy mutual funds or stocks every month for an overall average. I like to wait unti people are bailing and selling and are running scared. Because as long as this nation exists and is not crashing and burning there will be a successful stock market. Why people are buying now into the stock market is beyond me. The economic numbers are terrible right now. But, hey we will take the surge in stocks. So 6% returns in pension investments is very attainable and I would think 8-12% is more likely. Bonds are doing horrible now. Which probably is where the pensions are located because it is a "safe" place to put the money. May be that is the problem? Perhaps how the pensions are invested is where we should be looking at. But lets be honest. I don't know about Warwick but other cities and towns in the state were literally stealing from the pension system to pay for other things (corruption). Changing gears, does the city really need all these fire fighters ?? My goodness how many fires a year does Warwick average??? May be 10 or less. 1 a month? May be that is on the high side. Couldn't we always just call a neighbor city or town to assist like they do in more rural areas that can't afford such a bloated fire dept. Look at the problems in Coventry. Some folks are paying thousands more to pay for the fire dept. services. I'm sure they wish they never got away from volunteer fire fighters. There are more than enough eager young men and women that would love to volunteer, or be on call. The fire dept. has not done a good job with their budget. It is disgusting to watch as a tax payer. If my house ever caught on fire, yes it would be sad, and as long as everyone is safe that is all that matters. I would take the insurance money and move the heck out of this city !!! Owning a house doesn't ever have its perks any more in this state. Too many taxes.
I'll step up when you man up reality... And I'm pretty sure Bendover there are no Blogging laws. Feel free to contact the a tourney general. Nice threat... "Theft of Service". I can guarantee I've given more to my job than I will ever take.
SteveD.....just like I thought....big man with all the answers on the blog but afraid to have a coming out at city council meeting.....Steve D. you have ZERO credibility.
Michael2012, the FD statistics are all available. 16000 calls a year. You honestly think there are only 10 fires a year? Do a little research before you throw out stupid guesses. Eager men and women ready to volunteer? Haven't you been reading, no one volunteers anymore, mainly employers don't give the time off volunteers need. First of all the city has been running 30 fire fighters short for more than a year thats why its over budget. City could fix that they chose not to and pay overtime. According to NFPA they are staffed well under the required personnel. PLEAS MOVE IF YOU FEEL THAT WAY.
Reality = no sack
Reality.... Must not have a real name...
Did I miss the council meeting in the last hour, where I could have announced my plans? Reality thinks I did. Reality tell mommy to make your dinner and you'll come up from the basement to eat.
SteveD: You of all people are throwing out a quote like this, "Do a little research before you throw out stupid guesses'? You have been doing that throughout the trends on this blog. You have no idea what you are talking about when you comment on the fiscal issues facing the city. Typical hypocrite - do as I say, not as I do.
Steve D.....typical responses......cast aspersions but still afraid to announce the date of his coming out at city hall.....still a coward Stevie.....he has nothing to say
Steve D.....typical responses......cast aspersions but still afraid to announce the date of his coming out at city hall.....still a coward Stevie.....he has nothing to say
Bob, tell me one fact I got wrong.
Stevie D I know how the calls work ! It doesn't count as 1 call per all apparatus responding. All the apparatus gets their own call #. So therefore your numbers are higher than they appear ! How many fires SteveD ? Please give me the actual #. Not the tiny grass fires you get in the summer time but the full blown house or business fires.
What is the NFPA ? and how do they come up with minimum manning? Because who is to say how many you need sleeping in the fire houses ready to respond ? I have a scanner and I hear silence all day and night but for an occasional rescue request for a car accident, or a hang nail. It is unbelievable what people call a rescue for. The actual call volume is not 16,000. The actual amount of structure fires is very low. I'm not going to move thank you. I'm going to make sure my tax money is well spent. You wouldn't have a job were it not for my tax money paying for it. So if you want everyone to move out of Warwick, fine. But who is going to pay for you to sleep all day and night, and go shopping at Dave's market for breakfist, lunch, and dinner? What ever happened to people taking a brown paper bag with sandwiches to work? That not good enough for you? You have to cook a thanksgiving meal every day? I don't know why because your not burning any calories sitting around the fire house all day.
The population of Warwick is dropping. Guess that means we don't need as many fire fighters, right ?
You are completely wrong about the numbers. Once again do some research.
Hey Mike2012......thanks for your thoughtful questions......we all know you are spot on......don't waste your time asking Steve D........all talk, quick to belittle with no facts.....I'm sure Mike you would like to attend Stevie's coming out at city hall where he can captivate us all with his intelligence.
Still waiting for the date of your appearance at city hall Stevie.
Have bob educate you on how the numbers work. You are way off. Reality is that your name, would you like to explain how the numbers for calls work or are you gonna spit out false information also...
SteveD I know I'm right. I've done my home work. You are in denial. But like Reality states I'm wasting my time with you. This is true. The funny thing is that the concerned tax payers are doing you a favor by bringing this to attention. Why? Because when the pensions crash and burn, or the city goes bankrupt and ends up like Central Falls you will wish that your ignorance on making changes now weren't done to secure that you do have a pension when you retire ! You see it's not about the taxes paid today, it is about the taxes that aren't generated to keep up with the rising costs. Where do you think the money is going to come from? Currently look at what is happening on the federal level. Serious economic problems. Fixing these spending problems actually begins in our home towns. Taxes generated will not keep up with the rising costs. The politicians can only get so much blood from us if you will. It's unsustainable and you know it. Perhaps you are hoping to retire or go out on disability before it happens. For a long time I was on your side. But, I looked at the numbers and did my home work and things are not adding up. I don't want Warwick to end up like Central Falls, or Greece. If you think this is a joke it is not. This is a serious issue. This is why people are so pissed off. Especially from your attitude regarding the matter. Show some class because you are a disgrace to your department.
Bob can you explain to them Michael and reality that they are wrong. If and engine and a rescue go on a run it is 1 incident number. If three engines go on a call its 1 incident number. PROVE TO ME IM WRONG!!!
Steve D.....we don't need Bob to explain anything to us although I'm sure he could....you are the one who knows everything.....you can do it at the city council meeting when you get up and introduce yourself.
what is the date of your coming out?
As soon as your real name appears...
Michael hasn't admitted that he is wrong yet either..
As far as I know I'm correct. However, you never answered my question regarding dwelling fires for 2012. Furthermore, lets say I'm wrong on the calls and you are right regarding how they are logged. Again, I'm not saying you're right. Out of the 16,000 calls how many were cancelled while en route, how many were non-emergency type calls, how many were box alarms? I include box alarms because they are a total waste of resources. How many actual box alarms ended up being an actual fire ? My point being the fire dept. can get by on less. That is the bottom line. I researched your NFPA. Those are guide lines not the law. These are ideas and suggestions that need to be considered. Just like any organization it has to adapt to changes. If the population of Warwick ends up rising again some day than perhaps you can have a job fair. But, right now every one is cutting back. Now is not the time for the fire dept. to be expanding. If the minimum manning would be eliminated than there would be no need for all the over time, right? Work with us SteveD not against us. It is in your best interest. Perhaps Warwick should do the 401k conversion like Cranston and other cities? May be that will fix the pension problem. Tought choices have to be made and soon. COLA's should be illegal. Perhaps instead of sending a fire engine or ladder truck with a rescue for a nose bleed type call just a rescue could be sent. May be the rescues should be upgraded so just the one truck can go out. I think it is a waste when a dozen fire fighters show up for a ankle injury for example. It is time to start being more wise with the resources we have. I don't have all the answers. But I atleast recognize there is a problem. You will not admit there is a financial storm brewing and it's about to make land fall making a direct hit on the city budget. I remember just a few years ago we didn't have to pay taxes on the vehicles we owned parked in our driveways. What next is to be taxed? I'm sure something will be invented to be taxed to pay for next year. Eventually the income remaining will leave the majority of the population in poverty. I just read on the Drudge Report income is down the lowest in 20 years due to taxes and the economy. Have some sympathy. You have 4 days off a week that you can, and many do have part-time work. A lot of it is under the table such as landscaping and construction. Fire fighters are not hurting financially. Yet the tax payers are suffering a hard ship. It's not jealousy because I wouldn't want your job. I commend you on what you do. But as a retired fixed income elderly resident I'm worried about what the numbers are predicting.
Michael, I will try to answer your questions to the best of my ability. I do respect the fact that you as a taxpayer are going to argue against more taxes, as a tax payer also I pay too many taxes. I also have a job, and when people spit out facts that are completely wrong I will argue. In my opinion I don't agree with Bob's fiscal numbers. Right or wrong. They are my opinion. Don't assume that all firefighters are making money hand over fist. Every dollar they make is an hour away from home. Your assumption that they work under the table is an assumption, I don't agree with. Off hand I am not sure the total number of fires every year, it's public knowledge I don't have the numbers. I do know there were three the night of the blizzard alone. Your number is extremely low. 12 firefighters don't respond to an ankle injury. An engine and a rescue do (5 guys). Why 5, well people usually don't give enough information when they call 911. Firefighters don't know if its a CPR or a ankle sprain ( it could be an ankle sprain with a 400lb person, 2 people can't handle that). A CPR requires at least 4/5 firefighters for adequate help. Plus every engine and firefighters are ALS trained meaning every engine usually beats the rescues tothe scene. they can do everything a rescue does except transport. rescues are very busy. if you were having a heart attack and had to wait for a rescue that was at the hospital, or have the local engine company be there in 3 minutes. You tell me what's better. The general public would rather have more help than not enough on scene. As for box alarms, yes there are plenty, again if it was your business that was on fire at 3 in the morning and only 1 truck showed up then called for more help if it was a real fire you would be pretty upset in that 5 minute period of no help. The city takes my money and I have no say where it goes, will it be there when I retire I don't know, I do know I'm gonna argue for it. Again your fact about how runs are recorded is completely false. There were well over 16000 911 calls last year not Truck runs. That number would be near 50000 I'd imagine.
Also NFPA standards dictate response times and manning. This number in turn sets your ISO rating. This number dictates how much you pay for homeowners insurance. Let trucks mean more insurance, if you broke down what it costs you for the FD you would see its probably negligible as to what your insurance increase would be. Feel free to do the research. I apologize if I offended you before in earlier rants.
@StevieD: You stated, "In my opinion I don't agree with Bob's fiscal numbers".
This really irks me (you sound like the mayor) since these numbers are not mine. They are taken from official city documents. What I did was use my professional expertise to conduct the necessary research to compile all the data from the many different sources into one easy to read document, analyize the data and come to a conclusion based on the analysis. FENCEMAN described it precisely.
Now you might disagree when I characterize the city being in a FINANCIAL CRISIS when I can show specific undisputable facts that show for example that out of the $27.8 million in new spending in the city budget since 2007 almost 80 percent is paying for legacy expenses.
I think most would agree with my assessment that there will not be enough money to pay for the increasing legacy liabilities and new expenses associated with current employees (future raises) by simple increasing taxes. Michael's description of this is spot on.
What is it going to take for you to believe the numbers are correct and a real problem is brewing and the financial crisis will come to fruition in the near future?
Here is my Olive Branch, I'm done arguing with you - send me your email address to email@example.com (I will keep it confidential) and I will send you electronic versions of the documents and at your leisure you can study data.
It's to you and your colleagues benefit to understand these facts and the affect it will have on your future as a Warwick employee and stop viewing others and me as "the enemy".
I'm not saying that there isn't a problem bob, I'm saying I think it's being overblown, again MY OPINION. Do I think there is a real problem, of course I do. I'm not sure any of this will be here when I retire, that doesn't stop me from doing my job and doing it well. The are many little things that we do at the stations that go unnoticed ( many of us bring n our own lawn mowers to cut the lawns because the city won't buy one, we install cabinets in the stations when the city could have them "professionally" installed. We paint the stations, we take care of the stations, all done because we enjoy our main job and that is helping people. My point is I work hard no matter what, and I'm sure things are going to change when I retire many years from now (Michael I'm not the disability type). Contrary to what you believe 99% of us care about what's going on, yes we have bad apples. I simply disagree with the sky I's falling mentality. Again I apologize to you also, it's easy to get riled up here. I don't mean to offend you either.
Steve your making my point even more. These are the signs of a bigger problem. He and your fellow firefighter shouldn't have to bring your own lawn mower in. That's absurd. Your job is to protect the citizens and business in Warwick.
Can't you see that these problems are going to soon escalate to other areas of the budget, namely the personal budget. At some point I can see firefighters and police and municipal and school employees losing their jobs.
The problem can be fixed. I'M OVERBLOWING THE PROBLEM? When does the problem get real bad Steve, when the fire track brakes down going to a fire and someone dies?
Don't waste your time answering Steve D. blogs.....he has insulted many concerned taxpayers on the blog and as indicated it will no longer be acceptable for him or "the captainisabaffoon" to go unanswered.
He has held himself out to be an expert on fiscal matters so let's wait to hear him speak in the city hall chamber.
Fire trucks are already breaking down on calls. The city has no money is what we hear, but they post 2 million in the black. Again we make do with what we are given. We don't need new trucks. I wasn't hired by the city to solve their fiscal problems and I can't answer for retirees. Yes I'm aware that there is a good chance major changes are on the way, doesn't mean I'm not going to object to them or just roll over and let it happen. My pension contribution is already going up and up, again I'm not complaining, my healthcare is on par with most people in private sector. That's about all I can do...
I think we can all settle down and have a constructive conversation. I didn't realize how bad the situation is in terms of the city not having the money to cut the grass. What must be going on in the other departments? I will tell you this, if I was an active employee I would be pissed. It's not right that retireed employee receive better benefits then active employees.
Keep this in mind anyone in the Police II and Fire II pension plan received a 3% raise last year, This year they will get another 3% raise and next year another 3%, while active firefighters get zero. Also retirees pay zero for healthcare and active employees pay 20% co-pay.
The retirees in this City need to step up to the plate and experience some of the pain. Where are the union Presidents on this matter? I have a lot of respect for the President of the Providence Fire Fighters. He made it clear to the reitred firfighter that they needed to make consessions.
Maybe if that happen in Warwick we could by a lawn mower and some cabinets for the fire stations.
Steve that financial report with the so called surplus is all Smoke and Mirrors. Where was the big headline when the city ran a milllion doallr deficit a few years ago? What's that we heard - the chirping of the crickets.
That was the first point Roy Dempsey made to open up the comments. It's great for a headlines when we have newspaper reporters and editors who don't know how to read a financial statement and act like they are writing a press release for the Re-elect Avedisian campaign. And everyone else in the city thinks things are getting better.
Your comments about the conditions of the equipment in the deparment are frightful.
Do you have knowledge on the call volume Bob maybe you can explain to Michael that I am correct about the calls. He may listen to you.
I don't have that information and really can't comment on who is correct since I don't have a thorough understanding of the process. However it is public information that can be obtained from the city by sending in a freedom of information request to the City Clerk's office.
Stop into any station and look at the computer if you need the info. An incident is numbered by A 911 call and not each truck that goes on them. 16000 incidents last year, (ems, box alarms, fires, pump outs, etc..). Again engine and a rescue = 1 number. A house fire with 3 engines, a ladder, special hazards, rescue and battalion chief = 1 number not 7 as Michael explained it.
My 2 cents. Fact - each vehicle that leaves on a call is counted as a seperate run. Thats how Warwick got another Battalion chief. The requirment for battalion chiefs is directly related to the number of runs. This past Wed. night 6 pm. 1 rescue, 3 trucks, 1 ladder truck, and the battalion chief dispatched to Royal Crest apartments on Centerville Rd. 4 trucks and the battalion chief arrive and leave within 5 minutes, rescue stays and removes an individual that walked into the rescue. It begs the question, maybe we have the need for more information prior to releasing vehicles. Fact, 6 months ago the Fire Dept purchased a new compressor for scott air packs and scuba tanks. $49,000. 80 % grant. It was proposed as a 100% grant by Councilman Gallucci. Taxpayer on the hook for 10G's. Did we need it? We already have one in the West Shore Rd. Station. Just wondering. The same identical machine could have been purchased from a MA dealler for $22,000. with 2 year warantee. The point is that we are spending like drunken sailors. Lets look at the fire dept. contractual perks. 24 vacation days (6 weeks) 20 sick days, 14 paid holidays (can anyone name 14 real holidays?) 3 personal days, $850 for uniform allowance, $350 for laundry allowance. That bill amounts to 6.4 million, before anyone is on the clock. Its simply outrageous. Sick pay buy back bonus' should be criminal. Gold plated heathcare plan. The plan co pays (doctor visits, xrays, MRI's ect, havent changed since July 1, 1989. I have the contract in front of me and will gladly e-mail it. Now lets look at another fact. (per Oscar Shelton personell director) Between police and fire. 178 individuals collecting disability. One noted cop was showcased on channel 12 disabled but teaching scuba diving, no reprecussions. As can be heard on the city web site in the 2011 budget audio section 3. Oscar was asked if he felt that there was abuse of the disability system. He states he feels that " no less than 40% of the claims are fraudulant but we cant afford to litigate them. Listen to the tapes on line. Also, why do fire inspectors take the city cars home to Burriville?? Vehicle abuse is rampant in Warwick.
Now lets talk about the numbers of FD personell that have side jobs that are construction / high risk related. How many?? Lots. How about the one individual Mr. P%$^ham who bids on state construction work? Under bids everyone, employes firemen, doesnt pay insurance. These are facts and unfortunately, we all appreciate the work the FD does. But in recognizing that, we have to be honest and recognize that there is an enourmous amount of waste and abuse that simply is not tolerated in the private sector.
The real problem is this "holy-er than thou attitude. It is not my pension or heathcare plan, nor is it Mr. Cushmans. So why dont we see representatives of the dept. asking the questions? This is not the time to bury the head in the sand. Thats what happened in Central Falls. My suggestion is for the benificiarys of these perks to do some real research not only to protect themselves, but also to protect the taxpayer. "Serve and protect" right??
Are these perks at the fire dept. for real? What is Avedisian doing about it? Now we know the reason for all the overtime. Heads should be rolling.
Fenceman, I don't know how to put this but you are wrong. Please stop in any fire station or call city hall but please don't spit out facts that's you are obviously not educated enough on the topic to talk about. Yes each truck receives a number but that number is not calculated in the incidents per year. Who gets 24 vacation days, 3 personal days. Where did you get your info? I sure as hell don't get close to that many days. The other compressor is located on post rd. not west shore rd. please do a little research first.
Pardon the egregious error (Post Rd. vs West Shore). I thought that you might say "we didnt purchase a $49,000 compressor that we could have bought for $22,000 from Breathing Air Supply, the largest dealer of Bauer compressors. As far as the vacation and other perks. Just send me your e-mail and I will send you the contract.
The currant contract isn't out. I know you don't have a copy. I don't do the purchasing for the city so I can't say why something was bought. They did get a grant, so atleast the taxpayer only paid small portion. Seeing as the city has well over 200 plus bottles two machines that fill 4 bottles at a time doesn't seem far fetched. The new ones only fill 2 at a time. As for the 24 vac days, not sure who gets that as I get 12 days. As for personal days they come out of sick time and can only be used if there is a floater ( doesn't create overtime) and you get 2.
I think the problem is with the retirement system. That seems to be the number one problem that we are facing. The rest seems fine to me. Cola's for the retired need to stop !!! Most have social security and other income. They don't need it ! Then take the 3 percent and give the current workers a raise ! Not every year but once in a while. Then other ways to save must be modeled after other depts. I don't have the answers but at least I believe there is a problem and something has to be done. SteveD I apologize for the low blows earlier regarding saying you were lazy by sleeping all day at the fire house. It is so frustrating to sit back and watch our economy self destruct on the backs of the tax payers and nothing gets done about it. I truely want whats best for city workers. I think there are a lot of great civil servents in Warwick and I've met a few. But, whether it be the union, or the Mayor I don't know why things are being run so inefficient.
I dont have the contract?? Are you sure?? You so uninformed and an example of the uneducated. Here are the first few chapters:
JULY 1, 2009 TO JUNE 30, 2012i
SECTION 2. SENIORITY...............................................................................................................................21ii
SECTION 2. LIABILITY INSURANCE.........................................................................................................43iii
Pursuant to the provisions of Chapter 149 of the Public Laws of the state of Rhode Island, 1961, entitled "An Act to Provide for Settlement of Disputes Concerning Wages or Rates of Pay and Other Terms and Conditions of Employment of Employees of Fire Departments", this Agreement is made and entered into this ______ day of _______, A.D., 2009, by and between this CITY OF WARWICK AND LOCAL 2748, INTERNATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF FIRE FIGHTERS, AFL-CIO (hereinafter called Local 2748).
The City of Warwick recognizes Local 2748 as the exclusive bargaining agent for all the permanent sworn uniformed employees of the Warwick Fire Department, excepting the Chief and the Assistant Chief(s), for the purpose of collective bargaining relative to wages, salaries, hours and working conditions. The rights of the City of Warwick and employees shall be respected, and the provisions of this Agreement shall be observed for the orderly settlement of all questions. The right of the Chief and the Assistant Chief(s) to belong to Local 2748, shall in no way be limited or affected by this agree-ment. Local 2748 agrees that in the event any changes are necessary in its by-laws to protect and preserve the right of the Chief and Assistant Chief(s) of the Fire Department to belong to Local 2748, such changes shall be made without delay.
It is mutually agreed that there shall be no coercion, intimidation or discrimination practiced by the City of Warwick or Local 2748 against any employee of the Warwick Fire Department because of membership or non-membership in Local 2748 or activities therein. The President, Vice President and Secretary of Local 2748 shall be allowed time off with pay and without requirement to make up such time in order to attend six (6) regular or two (2) special meetings of Local 2748, such time not to exceed four (4) hours including attendance at negotiation sessions and attendance at interest arbitration2
sessions. Two (2) members who have been elected or appointed as delegates from Local 2748 to the convention of the International Association of Fire Fighters shall be granted time off with pay and without the requirement to make up such time to attend such conventions. "One (1) member who has been elected or appointed as a delegate to the Rhode Island Fire Fighters Association shall be allowed time off with pay and without the requirement to make up such time (not to exceed four (4) hours at any given time) to attend meetings of the Rhode Island Fire Fighters Association not to exceed ten (l0) meetings in any contract year. Two (2) delegates shall be granted time off with pay and without the requirement to make up such time in order to attend conventions of the Rhode Island AFL-CIO, not to exceed two (2) days in any contract year." The Chief of the Department may deny such time off in case of emergencies. All present employees and new employees of the Fire Department of the City of Warwick who are not mem-bers of Local 2748 on the effective date hereof, or who do not become members shall not be required to become members of Local 2748 during the term of this Agreement, but shall, as a condition of continued employment, pay to Local 2748, the employees' exclusive collective bargaining representative, an amount of money equal to that paid by other employees in the bargaining unit who are members of Local 2748, which shall be limited to an amount of money equal to Local 2748's regular and usual dues and its general and uniform assessments levied upon its members in connection with its responsibilities as the collective bargaining agent for employees of the Warwick Fire Department.
The City of Warwick shall retain the right to issue rules and regulations governing the internal conduct of the Fire Department as provided by law.
Seniority of employees shall be computed in each rank from the date of original appointment to that rank, unless an employee has been out of employment of the Department for over one (1) year (leave of absence not included), in which event, 3
seniority will be computed from the latest date of employment by the Warwick Fire Department.
Insofar as practicable, employees covered by this Agreement shall have seniority rights in grade, and insofar as practicable, seniority shall prevail with respect to the following:
a. Transfers to any position within the department; provided, however, that with respect to transfers from one division to another division within the department, the only bid position will be the lowest ranking one in the division. All positions above the lowest ranking one in the division shall be filled, if vacant, by either promotions from within the division or by a transfer made by the Chief of the Department.
b. Days off, holidays, and any and all circumstances or situations by whatever name they may be given, except as provided in Paragraph (a) above; provided, however, that an employee may reject the position or benefit at his or her discretion without the need of any explanation on his or her part. Further, in the event that an employee shall reject a position or benefit, it shall not be construed as a waiver of his or her seniority rights in any subsequent situation where seniority would prevail.
c. In order to implement the foregoing, a bid system is hereby established under which employees may bid for jobs or positions. Whenever there is a vacancy, the vacancy shall be posted and all employees in the order of their seniority shall have an oppor-tunity to bid on said position. The senior employee shall be awarded the bid. The successful bidder for any job shall be entitled to a reasonable trial period of not more than sixty (60) calendar days to determine whether he or she can acquire the skills necessary for the performance of said job in a reasonably satisfactory manner; pro-vided, however, that in cases where the City and Local 2748 so mutually agree, such trial period shall not be mandatory. At the end of sixty (60) calendar days from the date of trial transfer, the employee shall be considered as being transferred in accor-4
dance with the provisions of this Section except in cases where the City and Local 2748 may mutually agree to extend such trial period.
If, during the trial period, the City removes the employee from such position for al-leged lack of reasonable progress in said position the employee shall have the right to file a grievance in accordance with the grievance provisions of this Agreement. The term "reasonable progress" as used herein shall mean a comparison of the progress of the employee involved with the performance on said job of the average employee performing such work. Any disputes over the reasonableness of the trial period and/or the progress of the employee on the job shall be subject to the griev-ance procedures as previously mentioned.
If the successful bidder fails his or her trial period he or she will revert to a floating position until his or her next bid.
d. Vacancies and notice of bid shall be posted in all stations fourteen (14) days or more before any bid session.
e. Personnel changing from one platoon to another shall do so by their choice with no obligation on the part of the City to compensate, adjust or reimburse personnel who work more hours than normal; nor shall the City seek to reduce pay or require make-up time for those persons working less hours than normal.
f. Once the vacation schedule is established, any person changing from one platoon to another shall have a selection of only those weeks that have space available under the established vacation schedule. They shall select from the available time based upon their respective seniority of all employees moving onto that particular platoon. They shall not have the right to alter any previously selected vacations; but voluntary exchanges of vacation dates are permitted in accordance with existing policies.
g. It is understood by the parties hereto that during the trial period, progress reports may be made by the employee's supervisor, a copy of which shall be furnished to the employee and the Chief of the Fire Department.
h. A permanent and up-to-date seniority list shall be posted and maintained on the 5
Bulletin Board at Fire Headquarters for the benefit of all employees and all future seniority questions shall be resolved in accordance therewith.
i. The City also agrees to furnish to Local 2748 and to maintain an up-to-date seniority list, a copy of which is posted on said Bulletin Board.
All employees covered by this Agreement who are officers or members of Local 2748's Negotiating Committee (not to exceed five (5)), shall be allowed time off, with pay, for official Union business for contract negotiations and/or conferences in connection with the contract with the City Administration, Board of Public Safety and/or Chief of the Department, without the requirement to make up said time.
Any employee covered by this Agreement who is selected as a member of any arbitra-tion panel relative to the determination and conditions of a Collective Bargaining Agreement or relative to any grievance arising under the Agreement between the City and the Local 2748 shall be allowed time off without the requirement to make up said time for attendance at any session or meeting of any such arbitration panel.
The City of Warwick agrees to reimburse any employee covered by this Agreement the full cost of tuition and books for any such employee who has attended, with the approval of the Chief of the Department, an approved school relating to Fire Department activities and who has successfully completed such course of study, provided such costs have not been paid for or reimbursed from any other source. The total amount to be reimbursed to all employees of the Department will be limited to the sum of Twenty Thousand ($20,000.00) Dollars during the contract year.
The City of Warwick agrees that any educational program or school required for the continued certification of rescue officers or rescue drivers shall be paid for in full by the City of Warwick and shall not be deducted from the educational expense benefit hereinbefore provided.6
The City agrees to reimburse for educational expenses as follows:
1) Courses to be reimbursed at 100% shall be courses listed in the core curriculum of a degree program in Fire Science, Public Administration or Labor Relations at an accredited College or University. Also, professional developmental seminars related to Fire Science, Rescue or Hazardous Material shall be reimbursed at 100% provided such seminars shall have been approved by both the Chief of the Department and the President of Local 2748.
2) All other elective courses from accredited institutions shall be compensated at a "pro-rated" amount.
All reimbursement for education expenses will be due at the end of the City's fiscal year for those semesters that ended in the fiscal year. Reimbursement for those courses under number 1 above will be one hundred (100%) percent within the limit of the City's appropriation; and the other courses shall be prorated within the limits of the appropria-tion, if any exists.
If any member of the department while off duty, is required or requested to attend any school or seminar for either initial or advanced training, the City agrees to pay the employee at his/her straight time hourly rate of pay, hourly rate being 1/40th of his/her weekly salary, for time spent in actual attendance at the school instructional sessions on days that the employee would normally be off duty. This section shall not apply to individual training courses which are not part of the school training program Personnel who bid positions assigned to Special Hazards One shall attend Hazardous Materials training at their earliest opportunity. This shall occur within one year of assignment unless that training is unavailable during that time period. Training shall be to a level of "Hazardous Materials Technician" as defined by the Warwick Fire Department. In addition to this training, personnel may be required to attend additional specialized training as agreed to by the Chief of the Department and the President of Local 2748. Personnel who fail to meet these requirements shall have their positions made available for bid at the next available bid session. Personnel may not re-bid these positions until 7
the required qualifications are obtained.
The City of Warwick agrees to allow at least four (4) members of the firefighting force (i.e. those employees assigned to actual fire fighting duties) time off with pay to attend the National Fire Academy for a period not to exceed seven (7)days.
The City of Warwick further agrees to grant each student that attends the National Fire Academy a sum of money to cover all fees, meals and travel expenses to and from the National Fire Academy. In any such case the total sum of One Thousand ($l,000.00) Dollars will not be exceeded for this program in any fiscal year.
The mechanics of this program will be agreed to by representatives of Local 2748 and the City of Warwick.
Vacancies in the privates' ranks shall be anticipated so that the division of training can have a pool of recruits from which these vacancies can be filled as they occur. The surplus in this pool can be used to offset the always existent list of sick and injured members. The employees in this surplus pool may be detailed to companies where manpower is short due to sickness, injuries and vacancies.
The foregoing shall not be construed so that the City will use the pool of recruits for filling temporary vacancies where permanent members of the Department are available for the filling of such vacancies.
a. Any employee serving out of rank shall receive the pay of the employee for whom he or she is filling in, regardless of the number of pay increment applicable to that position, provided such service is for a period of one (1) full working day or longer. Service for part of a workday shall constitute service for the full working day so long as the vacancy existed at the beginning of the working day. b. In any case where an 8
employee who is serving temporarily out of rank is required to serve out of rank in a higher position, he or she shall be entitled to receive as pay the next highest depart-mental pay rate over his or her temporary pay rate after he or she has served in such higher position for a period of sixteen (16) working days.
c. For the purpose of this section, service out of rank shall not be deemed to have been broken by the employee who is temporarily serving out of rank having his or her regular days off.
d. In any case where an employee serving out of rank contracts an illness or suffers an injury in the performance of his or her duty he or she will continue to receive pay at the rate he or she is receiving while serving out of rank until such time as he or she is able to return to his or her normal duty. In the event an employee so disabled is subsequently placed on pension, his or her pension shall be based on the pay he or she was receiving while serving out of rank.
e. If any employee is killed in the line of duty while performing services out of rank, any benefit payments which may be due to his or her widow/widower, his or her estate or his or her next of kin shall be based upon the rate of pay of the rank in which said employee was performing services at the time of his or her death.
f. On all vehicles in the Rescue Division and the Fire Line, if a vacancy occurs above the rank of Lieutenant and the promotional list for the platoon is exhausted and the platoon is not below minimum staffing, the most senior person on the platoon shall fill the vacancy and be paid the compensation for the rank on which the vacancy oc-curred.
g. On vehicles in the Rescue Division, if a vacancy occurs in the rank of Lieutenant and the promotional list for the platoon is exhausted and the platoon is not below mini-mum staffing, the vacancy shall be filled by Either a private 1st class or Rescue Driv-er, either of whom must have at least two years in grade and must possess a mini-mum of an EMT-C license. On vehicles in the fire line, if a vacancy occurs in the ranks of Lieutenant and the promotional list for the platoon is exhausted and the platoon is not below minimum staffing, the vacancy shall be filled by the most senior 9
Private 1st class with at least 4 years time in grade at that rank.
a. In the event of a temporary vacancy in any rank above the rank of Fire Lieutenant or Rescue Lieutenant on a particular platoon, wherever practicable, such vacancy shall be filled at once by the top employee on the promotional list on the particular platoon for the rank in which the temporary vacancy exists.
b. In the event of a temporary vacancy in the rank of Fire Lieutenant or Rescue Lieutenant on a particular platoon, wherever practicable, such vacancy shall be filled at once by the top employee on the promotional list for lieutenants working on that particular platoon.
c. In the event of a temporary vacancy in the position of Assistant Fire Marshall, such vacancy shall be filled by the top person on the promotional list for this posi-tion. If no list exists, the senior Inspector shall fill this position. In the event of a temporary vacancy in the position of Fire Marshall, the Assistant Fire Marshall shall fill such vacancy. In the event of a temporary vacancy in the position of Su-perintendent of Fire Alarm, the Chief Lineman shall fill such vacancy.
d. Where the temporary vacancy to be filled, in accordance with the foregoing pro-visions, is one created by an employee being on vacation or being absent be-cause of sickness, illness or injury of protracted duration, or any other reason, the vacancy shall be filled in accordance with the foregoing provisions.
e. With regards to Sub-Section A and B, in the event the promotional list on a particular platoon is exhausted or the platoon is in a hiring position then the vacancy shall be filled on a rank for rank basis.
a. Any vacancy in the officers' ranks shall be filled from the appropriate promotional list within twenty (20) days after the vacancy occurs.
b. Except as thereinafter provided, promotional eligibility lists shall remain in effect for a period of two (2) years from the date of their establishment. All promotions shall be 10
made from the top employee on the promotional list.
c. At least three (3) months prior to any promotional examination for the position of Deputy Chief of Training, Battalion Chief, Rescue Coordinator, Fire Captain, Rescue Captain, Fire Lieutenant or Rescue Lieutenant and for all positions within the Fire Alarm and Fire Prevention Divisions of the Warwick Fire Department, notice of such examination shall be posted on the Fire Department Bulletin Board of each station. Such notice shall contain, among other information, the source of all materials from which the written examination will be taken.
One copy of all source material shall be provided for each fire station for the use of the employees in that station preparing to take such examination.
Any written examination given which does not comply with the provisions of the foregoing paragraph shall be subject to the grievance provisions of this Agreement. The written portion of any promotional examination shall consist of multiple-choice questions. No such examination shall consist of essay-type questions.
The written examination shall be prepared by an outside agency selected by the City from ARCO, Davis IFSTA or similar national testing agency.
All promotional examinations will be divided into three (3) sections, with the following points given for each section:
a. Written examination . . . . . . . . . . . . 70 points
b. Seniority: One (1) point for each year on the Fire Department — not to ex-ceed 30 points
c. Experience Points: …………………….Not to exceed 10 points
• 2 Points per promotional list made
• Not to exceed 10 points in each rank
• No carry over of point from rank to rank
Effective on February 9, 2005, no further Experience Points shall be accrued. How-ever, Experience Points already accrued toward promotion to the next rank shall expire upon promotion to the next rank.
The names of the three (3) individuals receiving the top score on any promotional examination will be posted in all stations and divisions of the Fire Department, show-ing the points allowed to each portion of the examination. All Fire Department mem-bers who took the examination and who placed below the top three (3) scores will be listed in the order of their score, with only their total score shown. All personnel who have taken the examination will be allowed to see their corrected examinations and score of all employees who finished above them in the particular promotional exami-nation.
No employee will be eligible to take the examination for fire lieutenant until such employee has served as a firefighter, grade one (or its equivalent), for a period of at least four (4) years in the Warwick Fire Department. Employees testing for any rank above Lieutenant must have two (2) years in present grade to be eligible to take the examination as of the date the new list goes into effect, which is the cut off date.
Written Examinations shall be conducted as follows:
The material for the examination shall be taken from a maximum of five (5) study sources. The percentage of examination questions to be taken from each study source shall be posted in advance of the examination. The examination shall be composed of 100 questions. g. All promotional examinations shall be corrected in the presence of the employee taking the written examination immediately following the completion thereof. All examinations shall be corrected in the presence of the authorized representatives of Local 2748.
h.. All promotional tests will be given no sooner than seven (7) days from the expiration date of the existing promotional list. Only multiple-choice questions will be used on the written examination. True of false questions will not be used.12
No officer shall be required to serve, even on a temporary basis, in any rank below his or her or her own.
a. The employee in charge of a rescue vehicle shall be designated and classified as a Rescue Lieutenant or Rescue Captain. On each Rescue Company one (1) Rescue Officer will be in charge for each of the four (4) platoons. Of the four (4) assigned to each Rescue Company, one (1) Officer will hold the rank of Rescue Captain.
b. The driver of a rescue vehicle shall be designated and classified as a Rescue-Driver.
c. The salary of a Rescue Lieutenant and/or Rescue Captain shall be the same as that of a Fire Lieutenant and/or Fire Captain and shall be set forth in Article XI hereof. The salary of a Rescue-Driver shall be five (5%) percent more than his or her normal rate of pay.
d. Rescue Captains, Rescue Lieutenants and Rescue-Drivers shall be subject to the performance of regular fire-fighting duties.
e. In the event that an employee assigned to a piece of rescue equipment is temporari-ly absent, the employee who is designated to fill in shall be compensated for such position after he or she serves for one (1) full day or more.
f. In the event of a temporary vacancy in the rank of Rescue Captain or Rescue Lieutenant, wherever practical, such vacancy shall be filled at once by the top em-ployee on the promotional list for Rescue Captain or Rescue Lieutenant, respectively, on the particular platoon.
g. If any Rescue Captain, Rescue Lieutenant, Rescue-Driver, or Fire Fighter while off duly, is requested or required to attend classes given at any hospital or school for advancement of their skills in rescue work, the City agrees to pay the employee at his or her straight time hourly rate of pay, hourly rate of pay being 1/40th of his or her 13
regular weekly pay, for all time spent during the period that any such class or seminar is scheduled to be given.
The call-back pay provisions of this Agreement shall not apply to this paragraph.
h. If a Rescue Captain, or a Rescue Lieutenant resigns his or her rank, he or she will still be used as a Rescue Captain or a Rescue Lieutenant until the next promotional list is made. He or she will only be used when all others on the promotional list are being used.
i. All eligible grade one fire fighters (or its equivalent) with two (2) years in grade and six (6) months assignment to Rescue shall be allowed to take promotional examinations for Rescue Lieutenant positions. (The six (6) month assignment to rescue does not have to be served consecutively).
j. The position of Rescue Coordinator is created to head the new rescue division. The duties of the Rescue Coordinator shall be those that were adopted by the Board of Public Safety at its December 19, 1988 meeting and included in the rules and regulations of the department. He/she shall receive the pay equal to that of the Deputy Chief, Fire Marshall and Fire Alarm Superintendent.
k. Specialist Divisions
a. The only entry level position for Fire Prevention and Fire Alarm shall be that of Inspector in the Fire Prevention Division or Chief Lineman in the Fire Alarm Division. An eligibility list for the entry positions will be estab-lished via competitive testing following the same guidelines and proce-dures as for Lieutenant.
b. Other than Inspector, the only other position to be tested in the Fire Pre-vention Division is that of Assistant Fire Marshall. Two years in the Fire Prevention Division is required to be eligible.
c. Once the existing list for Fire Marshall expires, there shall be no further testing for that position; the Assistant Fire Marshall shall be deemed to be the only person eligible for promotion to the position of Fire Marshall.
d. In the event of a vacancy in the position of Superintendent o Fire Alarm, the Chief Lineman shall be deemed to be the only person eligible for pro-motion to the position of Superintendent.
The duties of members of the Warwick Fire Department shall be the prevention, control and extinguishment of fires, the provisions of Rescue Services including emergency medical services, together with the necessary auxiliary, administrative and service functions presently conducted by the Fire Department, and such other duties as are, or may be prescribed by the Board of Public Safety, which are not in conflict with any other provisions of this contract.
All employees hired after April 1, 1979, shall retain an EMT license until retirement. Employees serving in either the Fire Prevention Division or the Fire Alarm Division shall be exempt from this requirement. However, if an employee serving in either the Fire Prevention Division of the Fire Alarm Division, to whom this rule would apply, chooses to return to any "line" position, then said employee shall regain his or her license at the first available course. The cost of that course shall be borne by the employee.
Any employee exempted from licensure by the Chief of the Department prior to January 1, 1999, shall not be subject to this provision.
All employees hired after October 1, 1995, shall retain an EMT-C license until retire-ment. Employees serving in either the Fire Prevention Division or the Fire Alarm Division shall be exempt from this requirement. However, if an employee serving in either the Fire Prevention Division of the Fire Alarm Division, to whom this rule would apply, chooses to return to any "line" position, then said employee shall regain his or her license at the first available course. The cost of that course shall be borne by the employee.
The above two provisions regarding EMT and EMT-C licenses shall not apply to individuals serving in the Rescue Divisions in jobs that require EMT-C licenses by virtue 15
of their positions.
a. The City of Warwick agrees that members of the Warwick Fire Department, whose duties are as defined in Article III, Section l, shall not be detailed to other depart-ments of the City. The details from one unit to another within the Fire Department shall be the responsibility of the Chief or Assistant Chief(s). This provision of the contract shall in no way restrict the interdepartmental exchanges of service within the City Government in accordance with prior practices.
b. Employees covered by this Agreement shall not, as a routine matter, but only under emergency situations, be assigned, transferred or loaned to any governmental unit for use as fire personnel, nor shall any employee covered by this Agreement be assigned, transferred or otherwise directed to operate or man any fire equipment or other apparatus other than fire equipment or apparatus owned or operated by the City of Warwick; provided, however, that the foregoing shall not be construed to prohibit the City of Warwick from furnishing mutual aid to other communities in the State of Rhode Island.
Off-duty personnel called back for shoveling snow from hydrants shall be compensated at the overtime rate of pay hereinafter set forth.
It shall be the responsibility of the senior officer present to determine whether a boat of the Fire Department should or should not be launched because of existing weather conditions at the scene.
a. All aerial ladder devices in the Warwick Fire Department shall, on a yearly basis, be inspected and tested for structural integrity and safety through non-destructive test methods such as ultrasonic and magnaflux testing by an independent testing
company other than the original manufacturer. A copy of such test results shall be supplied to Local 2748.
b. All bucket type devices, (Non Firefighting Units), in the Warwick Fire Department shall be inspected and tested every two (2) years by a company who specializes in the repair of such equipment. A copy of the inspection results shall be sup-plied to Local 2748.
c. All ground ladders shall be tested annually. A copy of such testing, done by an independent testing company other than the original manufacturer, shall be pro-vided to Local 2748.
a. The Department will not place any apparatus in service that is unsafe to operate.
a. The regular work schedule for all members of the fire fighting units and rescue units shall be an average work week of forty-two (42) hours, to be worked by a four (4) platoon system, working two (2) ten (l0) hours days, two (2) fourteen (l4) hour nights and four (4) days off.
b. The average regular work week for members of other divisions shall not exceed forty (40) hours with the exception of Fire Alarm Operators, whose average regular work week shall not exceed forty-two (42) hours to be worked in the same manner as fire fighters, i.e. two (2) ten (10) hour days, two (2) fourteen (14) hour nights and four (4) days and nights off.
c. Employees of the Warwick Fire Department who are assigned to the Fire Alarm Division or the Fire Prevention Division will work four (4) ten (10) hour days per week.
d. Vacancies which cause excess hours to be worked under the provisions of Section 3 of this Article, shall be filled Officer for Officer, Private for Private when there are no available "floaters" on a platoon to fill vacancies. Highest ranking vacancies will be 17
filled first by seniority.
The right to substitute at any time shall be permitted, provided, however, that permis-sion in writing to substitute must be obtained from the Battalion Chief on duty. A substitution shall be defined as a mutual exchange of time. No other form of compensa-tion shall be allowed.
All hours worked in excess of ten (10) hours on any day tour, or fourteen (14) hours on any night tour, shall be compensated for at the overtime rate of pay hereinafter set forth; provided, however, that members of other divisions who normally work shorter tours shall be compensated for hours worked in excess of the normal tour at the overtime rate of pay hereinafter set forth; provided, however, that members held over for snow removal or other emergency work (not including fire fighting or rescue service work) shall be guaranteed a minimum of one (1) hour overtime pay and all overtime worked in excess of one (1) hour shall be compensated for to the next one-half (1/2) hour; provided, however, that as to employees engaged in rescue work, no overtime pay shall be due and payable for the first fifteen (15) minutes of overtime, but for all time worked in excess of fifteen (15) minutes and less than one (1) hour they shall receive a full hour's pay and all overtime worked in excess of one (1) hour shall be compensated for to the next one-half (1/2) hour.
Overtime shall not be paid any employee held over at a fire already in progress while waiting for relief, but will be paid if no relief is provided.
"Waiting for relief" in terms of time shall be considered as fifteen (15) minutes or less. Compensation for "waiting" in excess of fifteen (15) minutes shall be considered overtime. Compensation for such period shall include the initial fifteen (15) minutes "waiting for relief".
Employees ordered back for duty shall be offered at least four (4) hours of work at the 18
overtime rate of pay as set forth in Section 5 below, or paid for 2 hours regardless of the time actually worked. Fire Prevention and Fire Alarm employees will receive a minimum of 4 hours pay when called back regardless of time actually worked. Em-ployees may be ordered back for duty only by a Chief Officer or Acting Chief Officer.
The hourly rate of overtime pay shall be one and one-half times the employee's regular weekly salary divided by forty (40); provided, that in determining the rate of overtime or callback pay for employees who receive a percentage increment over employees of equal rank, such percentage increment shall be considered part of their base pay, and they shall be paid at the rate of one and one-half times their regular weekly salary divided by forty (40) including such percentage increment.
No employee covered by this Agreement shall be compelled to parade or to attend civic functions but may parade and attend civic functions on a voluntary basis without pay.
Details shall be qualified as either civic or non-civic as hereinafter defined. Off-duty members of the Fire Department serving on details of a civic nature shall be compen-sated at the hourly rate of one-fortieth (1/40th) of their regular weekly salary with a minimum guarantee of four (4) hours' pay in the event a detail requires less than four (4) hours.
Members of the Department serving on special details of a non-civic nature shall be compensated at the rate of time and one-half (1-1/2) the rate applicable to a Firefighter Grade 1 with a minimum guarantee of four (4) hours' pay in the event the detail requires less than four (4) hours. The City shall make every reasonable effort to assure prompt payment to all employees for private details worked.
Members of the Fire Department serving on civic and non-civic details on the following
Next few chapters Steve. Rule # 1. dont speak on topics that you have no knowledge of. Youshould be ashamed of yourself. Typical union dope who doesnt even know the details of his contract.
Sick leave shall be granted at the rate of twenty (20) working days per year accumula-tive to one hundred twenty (120) working days; provided, however, that additional sick leave may be granted at the discretion of the Chief of the Department. During the month of February in each year, the City of Warwick shall cause to be calculated and 25
information made available upon request, each member's present entitlement under this clause. A member's entitlement to accumulated sick leave shall be determined from the date of his or her first appointment to the Department.
Days of absence due to injuries and/or illness contracted outside the line of duty shall be subtracted from the employee's sick leave as hereinbefore specified. Days of absence due to injuries and/or illness contracted in the line of duty shall not be sub-tracted from the employee's days of sick leave hereinbefore specified.
Sick leave shall be recorded at the rate of 1⅔ days per month to every employee employed by the City on the 15th day of any month. If an employee is on sick leave with pay in excess of two (2) consecutive working days, the City may require the employee to be examined by a doctor selected and paid by the City, and the doctor must certify that the employee's sickness prevented said employee from performing the duties of his/her position, before said employee will be credited with sick leave pay.
Sick leave for members of the Fire Department shall be granted for the following defined reasons:
a. Personal illness or physical incapacity, not voluntarily caused, to such an extent as to be rendered thereby unable to perform the duties of his or her present position or for some other position in the Department if said employee is found capable of other work by a qualified physician.
b. Enforced quarantine when established and declared by the Department of Health or qualified physician for the period of such quarantine.
Personal leave, for the following reasons, shall be charged against sick leave:
a. Attendance upon members of the family within the household of the employee whose illness requires the care of such employee for a period up to forty-eight (48) working hours or average work week (employees can be required to sign an affidavit stating that there is no possible way to make other arrangements).26
In any case where an employee retires or voluntarily terminates his or her employment with the City leaving unused, accumulated sick leave, the City shall pay one-half (½) of the amount of such accrued, unused sick leave to the employee on his or her retirement or leaving the employ of the City. In any case where an employee dies leaving unused, accumulated sick leave, the City shall pay the full amount of such accrued, unused sick leave to the Executor or the Administrator of his or her estate, or to his or her wi-dow/widower if there be no Executor or Administrator, or to his or her next of kin if there be no widow/widower in accordance with the intestacy laws of the State of Rhode Island.
The amount of unused, accumulated sick leave pay shall be determined by multiplying the employee's most recent daily rate of pay by the number of unused, accumulated days of sick leave.
In any case where an employee retires due to service-connected disability, as set forth in this Agreement, leaving unused accumulated sick leave, the City shall pay one-half (½) of the amount of accrued unused sick leave to the employee upon his or her retirement.
SECTION 5. BEREAVEMENT LEAVE Bereavement Leave for the following reasons shall not be charged against sick leave:
a.. In the case of the death of a mother, father, spouse, child, brother or sister, grandparent, grandchild, mother-in-law, father-in-law, or in cases of other members of the employee's immediate family with the approval of the Chief, each employee covered by this Agreement shall be entitled to a leave of absence with pay from the time of notification of death to and including the day following the burial of the de-ceased, except in cases where unusual travel distances exist, such period may be extended up to three (3) days or more if needed, and provided further, that in the case of employees of the Jewish faith, said leave shall be for the actual period of mourning observed, but not to exceed seven (7) days from the day of burial.27
b. In the case of death of relatives other than as provided in Paragraph (b) above, such leave of absence with pay shall be for not more than one (1) day to permit atten-dance at the funeral of said persons, if the leave is first approved by the Chief of the Department. (Affidavit may be required)
In any case where an employee has accumulated his or her or her maximum sick leave entitlement under Section 1 hereof, he or she shall, at the end of each year, be entitled to be paid for one-half (½) of his or her unused, yearly sick leave entitlement, not to exceed ten (10) days. Such payment is to be made on the basis of said employee's daily rate of pay as of January 31, and shall be paid to the employee by the thirtieth (30th) day of March of each year.
All employees shall be entitled to two (2) personal days per year. Such personal days will be deducted from the employee's sick leave and shall be available only when manpower is available and no overtime is incurred as a result of taking such days.
The City agrees to pay to any injured firefighter who is incapacitated by reason of injuries received or sickness contracted in the performance of his or her duties such amounts and for such periods of time as it is legally obligated to pay.
Medical care for those injured or who contract illness in the line of duty shall be as follows:
Those members injured or who contract illness in the line of duty whose condition requires admittance to a hospital shall have the right to select a hospital and physician from the staff of that hospital. The choice shall be made by the employee, or if his or 28
her condition prevents him or her from making his or her choice, the choice shall be made by his or her nearest relative who may be available at the time, provided however, that the fees of such hospital and/or doctor are reasonable and consistent with the prevailing rates for such services in the Rhode Island medical community.
In other cases which do not require hospitalization, the employee shall have the right to a specialist of his or her own choice from the staff of a hospital for initial treatment at the hospital and for subsequent treatment at the selected physician's office, provided however, that the fees of such hospital and/or doctor are reasonable and consistent with the prevailing rates for such services in the Rhode Island medical community.
In cases which are of minor nature (minor lacerations, abrasions, contusions, etc.), the judgment of the resident physician shall be followed regarding the necessity of calling in a specialist.
When an employee has suffered a minor injury which does not require the care of a physician in the line of duty and has been treated by a member of the rescue squad, a report of the injury and treatment shall be made to the Chief of the Department and become a part of the record of the Department. Any subsequent worsening of the injury or of the immediate area of the injury shall entitle the individual to the benefits of this Article.
When an employee has suffered a previous injury and an occasion arises when that injury recurs in any manner, the employee shall be entitled to the immediate examina-tion of the physician who attended him or her for the original injury at the City's ex-pense. In the event the physician who treated the employee for the original injury is not available by reason of illness, death or from other circumstances, the employee shall have the right to engage a specialist of his or her own choice. If the attending physician determines that the employee is actually suffering from a recurrence of the injury, the employee shall be entitled to the benefits of this Article; provided, however, that if the City of Warwick questions the decision of such physician, the City shall have the right to have said employee examined by the City's physician, or by a physician selected by him or her. If, in the opinion of the City's physician, or of the physician selected by him or 29
her, the employee is not suffering from a recurrence of such injury, the employees physician and the City's physician, or the physician selected by him or her, shall jointly select a third neutral physician who shall specialize in the area of medicine involved in the injury which is alleged to have recurred, to examine the employee and the decision of such physician shall be final and binding as to whether or not said employee is actually suffering from a recurrence of the injury. In the event the employee's physician and the City's physician, or the physician selected by him or her, shall be unable to agree upon a third neutral physician, such neutral physician shall be selected, upon the application of either party hereto, by the Executive Director of Rhode Island Medical Association. The Physician so selected by Executive Director of Rhode Island Medical Association shall be a specialist in the area of medicine involved in the injury which is alleged to have recurred. In all cases herein the examining physician shall base his or her opinion upon reasonable medical certainty.
A. Any employee covered by this Agreement who is injured while on any detail to which he or she is assigned, in accordance with departmental procedure, shall be consi-dered as in the employ of the City and shall be entitled to all of the benefits set forth in Chapter 45-19-1 of the General Laws of Rhode Island, 1956, as amended.
The City shall be subrogated to the employee's rights to the extent of payments made by the City pursuant to this Section. If the claim of the employee is one under the Workmen's Compensation Act, the City may pursue said claim in the name of the employee to recover any such payments made by the City.
B. The City of Warwick agrees to pay all expenses for inoculation or immunization shots for the employee and for the members of the employee's family residing in his or her household when such shots become necessary as determined by the Chief of the Department as a result of said employee's exposure to contagious disease as where said employee has been exposed to said disease in the line of duty.
In any case where an employee covered by this Agreement is disabled from performing 30
his or her regular duties as a firefighter because of a heart condition or respiratory ailment, it shall be conclusively presumed that such disability is attributable to his or her employment as a member of the Fire Department; in any case where an employee covered by this agreement is disabled from performing his or her regular duties as a firefighter because of hepatitis B or C, it shall be rebuttably presumed that such disability is attributable to his or her employment as a member of the Fire Department, and he or she shall be entitled to all of the benefits of the ordinances of the City of Warwick. For short-term disabilities under this paragraph, the inability to perform one's duties must be verified by a qualified physician. No period of such disability shall be deducted from his or her sick leave entitlement, nor from any other leave entitlement to which said employee may be entitled under any other terms or conditions of this Agreement.
1. Establishment
Firefighters on O.J.I. (on-the-job-injury) status may be assigned to light duty posi-tions. There shall be no limit to the number of light duty positions in the Depart-ment. Light duty positions shall not affect the minimum staffing levels of the De-partment. These positions shall be filled by employees whose prognosis has been determined by a physician that said employee is expected to fully recover and return to full fire fighting duties or other normal duties, subject to the Provi-sions of the Collective Bargaining Agreement. Nothing contained herein shall be construed to entitle an employee to a light duty assignment or a specific light duty task. Employees who are found fit for light duty and from whom an application for a pension has been submitted, may be assigned light duty until a decision is reached on the application.
2. Type of Work
The Chief of the Department may assign employees to the following light duty positions: Driver/Chauffeur for Duty Battalion Chiefs, Fire Prevention, Training Division, or other divisions of the Fire Department as selected by the Chief of the 31
Department, assisting the Training Officer, assisting the Supply Officer and per-forming other similar tasks involved in the ordinary course of business of the Fire Department.
3. Hours of Work
The hours of light duty work shall be the same as the division the employee is assigned to work.
4. Employee's Eligibility For Light Duty
An employee who is injured and subsequently unable to perform his or her nor-mal duties due to either a service or non-service injury or illness, may be as-signed to light duty upon examination and report by a doctor, selected by the City, or, the employee's own physician, subject to the approval of the City that the person is capable of performing light duty, provided the City will not use light duty as a permanent situation, but for those situations where there is an expecta-tion that the employee will at some future date return to full duty. Employees suf-fering from a non-service injury or illness shall not be required to work light duty.
5. Salary
A person's salary while on light duty shall not be less than that which he or she would have received had he or she continued to perform the regular and ordinary duties assigned to him or her prior to the injury or disability.
a. The City of Warwick agrees to furnish each present employee a copy of the current Rules and Regulations of the Warwick Fire Department and further agrees to furnish to each new employee upon his or her hiring a copy of the Rules and Regulations then existing of the Warwick Fire Department.
b. The City of Warwick agrees that the Board of Public Safety shall review and revise, where necessary, the Rules and Regulations governing the conduct of the Fire De-32
partment and further agrees to permit appropriate representatives of Local 2748 to meet with the appropriate City officials revising said Rules and Regulations in order to make suggestions concerning such revised Rules and Regulations.
c. Should any existing rule or regulation or any revised rule or regulation conflict with any express term or condition of this Agreement, the provisions of this Agreement shall be controlling.
The City of Warwick hereby agrees that all employees covered by this Agreement shall have the right to inspect their service jackets and personnel records at reasonable times, during normal hours of the Administrative Office, so that the employee will at all times know the contents of such service jacket and personnel records.
a. Members of the Fire department covered by this Agreement shall not be required, while on duty, to perform major structural alterations or major repairs to existing or future fire stations.
b. The City will provide transportation for any employee who is without prior notice detailed from one location to another or who is temporarily transferred from one location to another during his or her tour of duty.
c. None of the nine (9) fire engine companies shall be regularly operated in service at any time with less than three (3) employees on the vehicle, one of whom shall be an officer. None of the three (3) ladder companies shall be regularly operated in service at any time with less than two (2) employees on the vehicle, one of whom shall be an officer. None of the four (4) rescue companies shall be regularly operated in service at any time with less than two (2) employees on the vehicle. The Chief of the De-partment shall have the authority to assign or locate these companies as needed.
On each engine company, ladder and rescue company one (1) officer will be in charge for each of the four platoons. Of the four (4) officers assigned to each engine compa-33
ny, ladder and rescue company one (1) officer will hold the rank of Captain. The Special Hazards Unit shall be regularly operated in service at all times by two (2) employees, one of whom shall be an officer. Effective July 1, 2003, the Special Hazards Unit shall be regularly operated in service at all times by three (3) employees, one of whom shall be an officer. Of the four (4) officers assigned to the Special Ha-zards Unit, one (1) officer will hold the rank of Captain.
d. No apparatus regularly operated in service shall be placed out of service for lack of manpower. All four (4) platoons will maintain minimum staffing levels at all times as follows: 45 employees, including 19 officers. Of the 19 officers there shall be two Battalion Chiefs on duty. Note: Only 1 of the platoon Battalion Chiefs shall be al-lowed to be on vacation at any time. Effective on July 1, 2003, minimum staffing levels shall increase to 46 employees, including 19 officers.
e. Any off-duty member of the Fire Department who is required by the City of Warwick to appear in court relating to his or her duties on the Fire Department or while off duty is required by the City of Warwick to prepare any documents, papers or statements relating to such Fire Department activities shall be paid therefore at the rate of time and one-half his or her regular hourly rate of pay, hourly rate of pay being 1/40th of his or her regular weekly salary.
f. A Warwick firefighter will also be called back to duty and assigned to any out-of-city apparatus in order that he or she may guide that apparatus on any emergency call.
Any new employee of the Warwick Fire Department shall receive 18 weeks of training. This training shall consist of, but no be limited to, general training, pump training, driving, aerial operations, EMS training, as well as physical fitness training. The new recruits shall receive a minimum of 4 weeks training as extra personnel on apparatus, supervised by Field Training Officers, before being assigned to fill in for permanent personnel. This twenty-two week recruit school shall not be considered part of the probationary period. Recruits shall not be entitled to any other part of this agreement and shall become third class firefighters only upon successful completion of the training 34
school. All seniority, pension, and other benefits shall commence upon becoming a third class firefighter and shall not be retroactive.
The City agrees to prepare and post on the Bulletin Board of each fire station, a Table of Organization setting forth the organizational structure of the Warwick Fire Depart-ment.
Every employee forty-five (45) years or older may request a complete yearly physical by a doctor of his or her choice, which examination shall include an electrocardiogram, chest x-ray, complete blood count and urinalysis. Also, said employee may request a treadmill stress test which shall be administered at Kent County Memorial Hospital, Warwick, Rhode Island or any suitable facility designated by the City. The cost of such examination and tests shall be paid by the City. The medical report to the City of said physical paid for by the City shall be limited to a report on whether the employee is fit and able to perform the duties of said employee's position.
The City of Warwick will cause copies of this Agreement to be printed and distributed to all employees of the Warwick Fire Department within sixty (60) days following the date of execution of this Agreement. Copies of this Agreement shall be furnished to all new employees by the City within sixty (60) days of their employment. The cost of printing and distributing said copies shall be borne by the City.
A retiree shall be entitled to request and have made payroll deductions as authorized by him or her in such payroll deduction categories as the City permits active employees.
Effective July 1, 1987, retirees may purchase Dental Insurance by payroll deduction.
It is
Heres some mote Stevie D.
fitness and health of all employees. With that understanding, their shall be a committee of 6 members that shall work to implement the general concepts and programs outlined in the "Fire Service Joint Labor Management Wellness/Fitness Initiative" The goal shall be to implement the program in this document within three years of the date of this Agreement. The committee shall be comprised of 3 members appointed by the Chief of the Department and 3 members appointed by the President of Local 2748, IAFF.
a. Effective July 1, 2009, the base wage salaries of the employees of the Warwick Fire Department shall be as follows:
Fire Marshall
Supt. Fire Alarm
Deputy Chief of Training
Rescue Coordinator
Battalion Chief
Rescue Captain
Rescue Lieutenant
Firefighter Grade 1 (after two years of employ-ment including probationary year)
Firefighter Grade 2 (after one year of employ-ment including probationary year)
Firefighter Grade 3 (during first year of employment - probationary year
e. Privates who work in Fire Alarm for a period of one (1) year shall be identified as fire alarm operators or technicians.
Privates who work in the Fire Alarm or Fire Prevention Divisions for a period of six (6) months shall receive as salary a Lieutenant's rate of pay.
Any private so qualified who is transferred from the Fire Alarm Division or Fire Pre-vention Division and is subsequently re-transferred back to the Fire Alarm Division and Fire Prevention Division and has not served out of said Division for a period of two (2) years or more, shall receive his or her prior grade of pay, without further time.
Any private being re-transferred, as aforesaid, who has served out of the Fire Alarm, or Fire Prevention Division for a period of two (2) years or more, shall receive the lowest grade of pay in that Division with no credit for his or her prior years of service in said Division towards seniority.
f. During the term of this Agreement the Assistant Fire Marshall shall receive at least a Captain's pay. g. No officer in the Fire Department shall, at any time, be compen-sated at a Private's rate of pay; nor shall the rate of pay of any employee covered by
this Agreement be reduced during the term hereof, so long as said employee is performing the work of his or her position.
h. For those employees who successfully pass a written test and are transferred into the Fire Alarm or Fire Prevention Divisions, they shall be paid at the rate of pay of Lieu-tenant.
i. All percentage salary supplements under this Agreement shall be considered as part of such employee's regular salary for all pension purposes.
j. The City agrees that the rates of pay for the positions herein before set forth shall not be increased unilaterally during the term of this Agreement.
Each regular, permanent member of the Fire Department shall be entitled to step payments (formerly call Longevity) after he or she has served as a member of the Fire Department for a period of five (5) years, including his or her year of probation. Payments for steps shall be in accordance with the following schedule and will be added to the member's annual salary so as to be included in his or her annual salary for retirement pension purposes.
Any member entitled to step payments shall be paid those payments weekly
STEP IINCREASES (Formerly called Longevity)
Effective July 1, 2005, the Step payment schedule will be as follows:
As of employee's anniversary date
Commencement of Employment to and including fifth (5th) year Including probationary period
Sixth (6th) year to and including twelfth (12th) year
8.5% of salary
Thirteenth (13th) year to and including seventeenth (17th) year
9.5% of salary
Eighteenth (18th) year to and including twentieth (20th) year
11.5% of salary
Twenty first (21st) year to and including twenty forth (24th) year
12.5% of salary
Twenty fifth (year) to retirement
13.5% of salary
The purpose of this grievance procedure is to establish effective machinery for the fair, expeditious and orderly adjudication of alleged grievances, involving the interpretation, application or alleged violation of the provisions of this Agreement and/or the rules and regulations of the Fire Department.
When an employee feels he or she has a grievance he or she shall file the grievance in writing with the Executive Committee of Local 2748 within ten (10) days of the date of occurrence of the alleged grievance. If, in the judgment of the Executive Committee, the nature of the grievance justifies further action, it shall, through the President of Local 2748 or his or her designee, bring the grievance to the attention of the Chief of the Fire Department in writing not later than thirty (30) days from the date of the receipt of the grievance. The Chief of the Fire Department shall meet with the President of Local 2748 or his or her designee within fourteen (14) days of receipt of the grievance from the Executive Committee of Local 2748. If either party feels it necessary, the individual or individuals involved in the grievance shall be ordered to appear before the Chief of the Fire Department and the President of Local 2748 or his or her designee for the purpose of testifying on the grievance.
In addition to the foregoing procedure, Local 2748 shall have the right to bring a grievance on behalf of any employee or on its own behalf. In such case, a grievance shall be presented directly to the Chief of the Fire Department in writing within thirty (30) days of the date of the occurrence of the alleged grievance. The Chief of the Fire Department shall meet with the President of Local 2748 or his or her designee within
fourteen (14) days of receipt of the grievance from the Executive Committee of Local 2748. The Chief of the Department shall render a written decision within fourteen (14) days of time set for a meeting.
If the Local is not satisfied with the decision of the Chief, it may notify the Mayor's Office within seven (7) working days of receipt of the Chief's written decision that it desires to process the grievance further. The Mayor, or his or her designee may render a decision at Step Two, or may forward such grievance to the Board of Public Safety for a decision. If the Mayor agrees to render a decision in his/her office, a meeting relative to the discussion of the grievance will be scheduled and held within thirty (30) days, otherwise, the Board of Public Safety must hold a meeting on said grievance within thirty (30) days.
If the Local is not satisfied with the decision of the Mayor or Board of Public Safety, it shall notify the Board in writing within seven (7) working days of the receipt of the written decision that it desires to process the grievance further.
In such an event, an Arbitration Committee shall be formed for the purpose of arriving at a final resolution of the grievance. This Committee shall be composed in the following manner.
The Chief of the Warwick Fire Department or person designated by him or her as his or her representative; the President of Local 2748 or person designated by him or her as his or her representative; a third disinterested person who shall be agreed upon by the first two members. If the agreement cannot be reached on the third member within ten (10) days of the decision to follow this procedure, either member of the Arbitration Committee shall request the assignment of an Arbitrator by the American Arbitration Association who shall act as the third member of the Arbitration Committee. The Committee as finally composed shall meet within fifteen (15) days of the appointment of
the third member of the Committee and shall conduct hearings on the grievance and shall render its decision in writing within thirty (30) days from the conclusion of such hearing. The decision of the Committee shall be final and binding upon all parties to this agreement.
All cost and expenses of the Arbitration shall be shared equally by the parties hereto. In all cases that any reviewing authority fails to render his or her decision within the time limits set forth, the grievance shall proceed as if such decision has been made by the reviewing authority unfavorably to the Local.
Any and all disciplinary action taken pursuant to the Rules and Regulations of the Warwick Fire Department shall be subject to review in accordance with the provisions of Step Two of this grievance procedure.
No employee shall be suspended without pay in the first instance for more than fourteen (14) days. Within said fourteen (14) day period, the employee shall have his or her case heard and a decision rendered by the Board of Public Safety. If the charges are dismissed, the employee will be reinstated with back pay. If the charges are upheld by the Board of Public Safety, and Local 2748 seeks review of the decision through the arbitration provision of this agreement, the Board of Public Safety may either order the employee back to duty or may place the employee on administrative leave, with pay, until such time as the arbitration panel renders its decision.
The City and the Union shall form a committee to study the use of expedited arbitration in discipline and discharge cases no later than December 31, 2002.
Another chapter for Embarassment Steve.
Effective on July 1, 2005, all active duty employees shall contribute $11.00 weekly to the cost of their health insurance on a pre-tax basis, and shall be required to pay an emergency room co-pay of $100 if not admitted. This clause shall not apply to retirees. Effective on July 1, 2009, all active duty employees shall contribute $14.00 weekly to the cost of an Individual health insurance plan and $28.00 weekly for a Family health
insurance plan.
a. The City agrees to provide primary health insurance coverage, including family coverage for eligible employees, under the plan known as Healthmate 2000 Coast to Coast, or a similar comparable health insurance plan whose benefits shall be compa-rable to those listed in Exhibit A attached hereto. The City shall also provide second-ary health insurance coverage under the Rhode Island Hospital Service Corporation (Blue Cross Classic) in its Semi-Private Plan and the full cost of family coverage under the Blue Shield plan "100" and the full cost of family coverage under the Blue Cross Major Medical plan with coverage for $1,000,000.00 with the Managed Benefit Program (MBP) for the period from 7/1/99 to 6/30/2002 for all employees covered by this Agreement subject to the rules and regulations of those corporations. From 7/1/99 to 6/30/2002 if the City desires to insure such benefits with a private insurance carrier, the benefits, which are listed in Exhibit B attached hereto, will be at least equal to those provided by the foregoing plan. In the case of an unmarried em-ployee, the City agrees to assume the full cost for individual members under such plans. Effective July 1, 1989, the major medical rider increases from $250,000 to $1,000,000 and 120 days increased to 365 days, and a prescription benefit plan will be added. Employees covered by the secondary coverage as listed above will be allowed to remain in that plan unless they switch to the primary coverage. However, no employee, including new employees, may enter the secondary coverage plan after 7/1/99.
b. Commencing July, 1980, the City shall amend its Blue Cross Classic coverage to include the student rider to age twenty-five (25); the cost to be borne by the City.
c. Commencing July 1, 1981, the City shall provide and pay for, at its expense, Delta Dental(or equivalent) Level I, family or individual coverage as the employee may select.
Commencing October 1, 1982, the City shall provide and pay for, at its expense, Delta Dental (or equivalent) Level II, family or individual coverage as the employee
may select.
Commencing January 1, 1984, the City shall provide and pay for, at its expense, Delta Dental (or equivalent) Level III, family or individual coverage as the employee may select. The City shall provide and pay for, at its expense, dental insurance coverage provided by an insurer of the City's choice, providing said insurance is similar in coverage to Delta Dental Level III, family.
d. Commencing January 1, 1983, the City shall provide and pay for, at its expense, the Blue Cross - Blue Shield medical emergency rider for full family or individual cover-age as the employee may select.
e. Commencing January 1, 1986, the City shall provide and pay for, at its expense, Delta Dental (or equivalent) Level IV Family, ONE THOUSAND DOLLAR ($1,000.00) limit.
In addition, the City shall increase the limit of coverage on Level I, II and III, Family or Individual, to TWO THOUSAND DOLLARS ($2,000.00) per calendar year.
f. Commencing July 1, 1986, the City shall provide and pay for, at its expense, the Blue Cross-Blue Shield Vision Care Rider for Full Family or Individual Coverage as the employee may select.
g. The City shall provide and pay for, at its expense, Blue Cross - Blue Shield medical insurance with Managed Benefit Program (MBP) starting 7/1/87-6/30/88, for all em-ployees who retire from the Department after July 1, l983, for family or individual coverage as the employee may select, until such time as said employee or his/her spouse shall become eligible for Medicare or until such time as said employee or his/her spouse obtains equal or better coverage. Effective July 1, 2002, retirees and their spouses, upon attainment of age sixty-five (65) shall be enrolled in Blue Cross Plan 65 with regulation 46 and major medical part B (prescription drugs, etc.) with an additional policy to maintain family coverage as needed. Upon submission of proof of enrollment in Medicare in June and December of each year, the City shall reimburse the part B Medicare cost to retirees.
h. For all employees retiring on or after July 1, 1994, the City agrees to allow such retirees to purchase, at their own expense, the Medicare Supplement Plan known as Plan 65 through the City's plan. Such purchases may be deducted from the retiree's pension payments.
The City agrees that any employee who is called back to duty shall be considered for all purposes as in the employ of the City from the time the employee received the call back to duty until he or she is officially released from duty by his or her superior officer.
In the event any employee covered by this Agreement is sued in any civil proceeding as a result of action performed by said employee in the performance of his or her duties as an employee of the Warwick Fire Department, the City of Warwick agrees to provide such employee with all necessary legal assistance and further agrees to pay any judgment rendered against such employee in any such proceeding; provided, however, that the City shall have the right to deny all or a portion of the benefits under this section if it determines that the employee acted outside the scope of his or her employment.
If at any time the City of Warwick amends the present ordinance providing for life insurance of FIVE THOUSAND ($5,000.00) DOLLARS for any employee of the Fire Department who may be killed in the line of duty downward, the City hereby guarantees by this provision to pay said employee's designated beneficiary a death benefit equal to FIVE THOUSAND ($5,000.00) DOLLARS.
In the event of the death of an active duty or retired employee, his/her spouse will be provided with any health or dental insurance to which he or she was eligible to receive prior to the employee's death. If the widow/widower remarries or has comparable health insurance coverage available elsewhere, this provision shall not apply.
Commencing July 1, 1996, all employees covered by this Agreement shall be insured by the City for a Term Life Insurance Policy in the amount of FIFTY THOUSAND
($50,000) DOLLARS, the premium thereof to be paid by the City. Also, effective July 1, 1996, the City shall allow retirees to purchase said insurance through a deduction from their pension check, at the retiree's cost as determined by the City's term life insurance carrier.
This policy shall be in addition to the Life Insurance provided for in Section 3 above.
a. In the event contributions by the members of the Fire Department to the present pension system are increased beyond the six (6%) percent contribution during the term hereof, the City of Warwick agrees to pay the difference between said six (6%) percent and the increased percentage, provided the Pension Fund benefits have not been increased over those presently in force on the date of this Agreement. Upon the plan being qualified by Internal Revenue Service and due to benefit improve-ments granted on July 1, 1989, the employee contribution will be increased from the aforementioned 6% to 7%. The seven (7%) percent contribution rate will be the sole responsibility of the employee. Effective on July 1, 2005, the contribution shall be increased to eight (8%) percent, and shall be reduced to 7% on September 19, 2005.
b. The City agrees to amend the pension plan under City code, Article IV as of the date of this agreement as set forth in Section 7-76 (a) and (b) of the said article as it is written as of the date of this agreement and which is incorporated herein and made a part of hereof.
1. Vesting
Upon the completion of ten (10) years of service, an employee shall become vested in the pension and at that time shall be eligible for a benefit of 25% of his or her highest salary while employed.
2. Payments
Payments of said pension shall commence upon the date that the employee would have completed 20 years of service under the provisions of the pension ordinance, had the employee continued as a member of the Fire Department.
3. Employees With More Than 10 Years Of Service
Any employee who retires with more than 10 years of service, but less than 20 years of service, shall be eligible for a benefit at the percentage of his or her highest salary as follows:
Completed Years Of Service Percentage Of Highest Salary
11 27.5
12 30.0
13 32.5
14 35.0
15 37.5
16 40.0
17 42.5
18 45.0
19 47.5
4. No Other Benefits
Employees with less than 20 years of service who retire shall not receive paid health insurance coverage and there will be no escalation of pension benefits when salary increases are granted to active members of the Fire Department.
5. Optional Retirement Benefits for Employees Hired Before May 28, 1992.
Effective July 1, 1996, employees who were hired prior to May 28, 1992, may elect to
retire under the provisions of Section 5 of this Article. Once such an election is made, it is irrevocable. The City will arrange to modify the pension ordinances to reflect the availability of this option.
And the finale:
Any qualified employee wishing to be placed on normal service connected pension will be required to give written notice to the Chief of Department no less than thirty (30) days in advance of the date of retirement.
a. Military Buy Back after 20 years of service at Actuarial Value.
b. 1% for each additional year of service between 20 and 30 to a maximum pension of 60% in lieu of 25 to 30 years at 2% to 60% maximum.
c. Full Escalator at 20 years of service instead of 25 years.
d. 66⅔ % Disability Pension for all Heart, Respiratory, and Cancer disabilities and a Social Security qualified disability at time of pension application. For the Social Security Qualified Disability Pension, if the employee is not qualified at the time of retirement, but has an application filed with the Social Security Administration before his or her retirement, then the employee shall be placed on a 50% pension, or at a rate computed with the employees service time, whichever is greater, and at the time of qualification by the Social Security Administration, the employee's pension shall be increased from the amount being received to 66 ⅔% and the employee shall receive the difference between the amount received and 66 ⅔% retroactive to the date of placement on the pension roll. All other types of service disability applications re-ceived after July 1, 1989 will be at 50% or at a rate computed with the employees service time, whichever is greater. Employees who are entitled to a pension percen-tage higher than 66⅔ % based upon their creditable service shall receive the higher amount.
Section II of the firefighters' pension shall apply to all employees hired after May 28,
1992, Section II of the pension plan shall include, and the current pension ordinances of the City shall be modified, to reflect the following concepts:
• Non-Service related disability - same as Section I
• Widows and survivors benefits - same as Section I
• Income Offset - same as Section I
• Retirement after 20 years - 50%
• Retirement after 30 years – 75% (2% per year from 21 to year 25, and 3% per year from 26 and 30 years of service not to exceed 75% total.
• No smoking as a condition of employment
• Mandatory physical fitness program for all employees hired after May 28, 1992
• Age at hiring - no less than 21 years of age and no greater than 30 years of age
• Pension benefit based on the last three years of service. Effective January 1, 2005, pension benefits will be based upon the last year of service, which benefits shall be calculated by using daily pro-ration.
• Any employee retiring between July 1, 2005, and September 18, 2005, shall have his or her pension calculated at 50% of creditable income for 20 years of service plus 3% for each year of service between years 21 and 30 to a maximum of 80% (pro-rated daily for partial years of service). After September 18, 2005, no employee shall retire at a percentage higher than 75%.
• COLA capped at 3% annually
• 66⅔% for job-related disabilities of heart, lung, cancer and Social Security qualified disabilities in the same manner as prescribed in Section 4 (d) above.
• Conclusive presumption language as in the present collective bargaining agreement
• Funding for Section II Pension shall be 1/3 of the cost by the employee and 2/3 by the City. The initial contribution is expected to be 11% by the employee and 22% by the City.
In consideration of the right of employees covered by this Agreement to a resolution of disputed questions, in accordance with past practices within the Fire Department, and other benefits conferred by this Agreement, Local 2748, for itself and for all employees covered by this Agreement hereby agrees that no employee covered by this Agreement shall have any right to engage in any work stoppage, slowdown or strike and that if any unauthorized or wildcat work stoppage, slowdown or strike shall take place, it will immediately notify such employees so engaging in such unauthorized activities to cease and desist and shall publicly declare that such work stoppage, slowdown or strike is illegal and unauthorized. Any employee engaging in any strike shall be subject to immediate dismissal by the City without any right to any of the benefits provided for under this Agreement.
In the event that the City, at any time during the term hereof, lays off employees covered by this Agreement, the same shall be done on a strict seniority basis; that is, the last employee hired in the bargaining unit (including probationary employees) shall be the first employee to be laid off and so on until the number required to be laid off has been met.
Miscellaneous Provisions:
1) Effective on July 1, 1999, the City and the union agree to the following:
• There shall be established a Training Division. The head of this Division shall hold the rank of Deputy Chief of Training. In the event that no Fire Battalion Chief applies for the position of Deputy Chief of Training, that position will be open to applicants from the rank of Fire Captain.
• Due to added duties and responsibilities, the current Deputy Chief of the De-partment will now be the Assistant Fire Chief. The Assistant Fire Chief will not be a member of the collective bargaining unit. The position of Deputy Chief of Training shall be in the collective bargaining unit.
2) A Committee shall be created consisting of the Fire Chief (or designee), the Union President (or designee), the Council President (or designee), the Finance Director (or designee), the DPW Automotive Chief, and one member of the public appointed by the Mayor. The purpose of this committee will be to conduct a study of fire appa-ratus replacement issues. This committee will submit a report on the study to the Mayor and City Council no later than March 26, 2006.
3) The City agrees to submit legislation to the City Council which would change the City's Ordinances to reflect that any employee retiring between July 1, 2005, and September 18, 2005, inclusive, shall have his or her pension calculated at 50% of creditable income for 20 years of service plus 3% for each year of service between years 21 and 30 to a maximum of 80% (pro-rated daily for partial years of service). After September 18, 2005, no employee shall retire at a percentage higher than 75%.
Duration of this agreement shall be for a term of thirty six months commencing on the first (1st) day of July, AD 2006 and ending on the thirtieth (30th) day of June, AD 2009.
In the event a new contract is not executed prior to the expiration of this Agreement, this Agreement and all of its terms and conditions will remain in full force and effect until a new written contract is executed; provided, however, that the foregoing shall not prohibit any provision in a new contract from being retroactive to the first (1st) day of July, AD 2009.
IN WITNESS WHEREOF, the City of Warwick has caused this instrument to be executed and its corporate seal to be affixed by Scott Avedisian, its Mayor, as of the day and year first above written, and the said Local 2748 has caused this instrument to be signed by its President, and its Secretary respectively thereunto duly authorized, as of the day and year first above written.
In the presence of:
_________________________ _____________________________
_________________________ _____________________________
Apparently you can't read your own post fenceman. It expired June 2012. Nice work cutting and pasting old contracts though. And yes Michael there is plenty of room for more efficiency .
SO WHO DO WE BELIEVE NOW???? Stevie D?? OR THE FACTS. This just shows more evidence that the rank and file has no idea of what the issues are or what they are talking about. END OF DISCUSSION!
Fence man, in three simple posts you proved to all of us how uneducated you are. You obviously don't even read your own posts... I apologized to Bob and Michael but you are in a league of your own....
Nothing has changed in the benefit package other than the step raises and a very small increase in the weakly health care payment which any tax payer would love to have. All other benefits remain the same. Additionally, if you read the fine print, there is a stipulation that states that if the city recieives any supplemental revenue, the union concessions are made whole. So Steve, now debate me with facts. Your out of your league of specifics.
Show me some facts Steve. You MUST have the new contract. You agreed to it so im sure that you have a copy. After all, anyone in your position that has signed a legal document must have a copy of it. Please, now, go to sleep on the job, your agravating me with your lack of knowledge,.
This is my last post with you fence man. That is an EXPIRED COPY. Many things have changed. I don't have a copy because the city hasn't finalized their language. When you grow up maybe ill talk to you again, but you just proved that you can't even read your own wrong facts. Bye bye..
"The city hasnt finalized the language"??? Are you kidding me? Are you saying that the union agreed to a contract in which the language is incomplete?? Are you saying that the Mayor publicly touted contract savings with FD when the contract language is incomplete?? Are you saying that the City Council ratified a contract in June to take effect July in which the language is still incomplete in March?? Who is it really Steve that doesnt know the facts? Contact the mayors chief of staff and he will e-mail you the contract.
Your not smart enough for a response.. Contracts are finalized and lawyers go over the language. If you have a copy you would be the first in the city to have the finalized version. This is my last response to your idiotic claims.. Call the mayor and get a copy if you are so confident it exists...
Why do you think you can only find the expired 2012 contract online?
Why was it never signed ? That is unusual, no?
Michael, the contract is signed and agreed to. Both sides go through and look at the language if they change (minor) things, which usually happens it has to go back to the other side for review. Yes it is longer than usual but it's not unusual. The contract is real and agreed to. The finalized version and language is still being printed. Don't let fence man confuse you.
Michael, just please look cosely at the 2012 contract. The benefits of the contract have not changed as I said with exception to no step raises and an increase in monthy co-shares. The medical benefits stay the same. Look at the minimal copays for medical services. No one in the private sector has this type of coverage for the miniscule out of pocket expense. Now look at what I said prior, sick days, vacation, holidays, etc... Again, no one in the private sector has these. If you notice, Steve has not made any comment to the fact that I put forth pertaining to the fraudulant disability claims. That information can be heard on line by going to the 2011 budget hearing audio. Again, no action taken, and the taxpayer continues to pay for the dishonest union employee. Its not just Warwick, look at providence. Over 900 police and fire on disability. I personally know several of them. 6% compounded colas. Where does it end? You just willl never educate someone like Steve, he has been brainwashed by union leaders that dropped out of highschool.
"Look cosely". You want to talk about dropouts...
Michael, Bob, if you have any questions feel free to ask.
This city is so lucky to have someone in our midst as intelligent as SteveD. Warwick should be very thankful he is in our city. When is he going to get up at city hall and educate us all.Hope some could tape his insights because I'm sure Harvard Business School could use it as a lecture.
Steve D.....you have an answer for everything so when is your coming out at city hall. When ?????????
Here's a challenge, tell me one thing I have said that hasn't been true. You along with fence man have no credibility hiding behind your screen names. I said harsh things to Michael and Bob and have apologized for those remarks. I am no longer responding to you and fence man because you spout out miss information and have yet to bring anything intelligent to the conversation. I'm not worried about debating the likes of you who hide and only shout demeaning rhetoric..
SteveD......I can't tell you how disappointed I am that you won't answer my blogs any longer....I'm crushed.....Let's set the record straight....I haven't disseminated any information....I leave that to you because you have all the answers....your rants over the year prove that.
I'm on the blog because you and "thecaptainisabaffoon" have demeaned Mr. Dempsey and Cushman and others for having the audacity of pointing out the fiscal mismanagement of the city. Mr. Cushman and Dempsey are gentlemen who refuse to answer you and"captainisabaffoon" is kind but their admirers are not so inclined. You and the Mayor's assistant as well as Mayor's supporters will be answered with the same sarcastic characterizations as you level.
I don't understand how the Mayor's glass house can withstand the onslaught.
SteveD.....still waiting for the date of your coming out at city hall. What's the date ?????????
HELLLLLOOOOO? Can we get back on message? The headline of this article is..."Mayor touts city's financial position"...The questions should be very simple, especially for so called journalists doing their job, asking the tough questions...
1. Do you believe the Mayor, the Council, and the various department heads and do you believe that statement?
2. What about the auditor general, the bond rating agencies, the general treasurer, the actuaries, and any large accounting agency compiling this stuff? Perhaps you forgot the credit union fiasco, and how at the end of the day, Ernst & Young had to pay a $101M settlement to RI? Liars figure and figures lie...
3. We recently had former Mayor, mini-me of Providence, now Congressman mini-me tell everybody upon leaving office that Providence was in "great financial shape"...Enter Angel Tavaras and he declares its a category 5 disaster...Whom do you believe?
4. Here's a question, as long as we are going to go the long way around the barn on the retirement system..."In the last 20 years, what percentage of retirees from the City of Warwick, all departments, retired on a tax free disability pension?" Then, break it down by agency...Teacher, public works, fire & police department, civil servants, etc.?? ( Providence Fire was near 70% several years ago..it has since gone down)..Mr. Dempsey is more qualified to answer this than me, but it seems like we have set ourselves up to be paying 3 retirement systems...Obligations for current employees, obligations for regular retired employees, and then those that retire on a full disability, hence, a de facto 3 tier system...DO you still believe the story coming out of city hall, or do you believe your own eyes and gut feeling based on some of the numbers presented here, That we are following the course of Providence, and other communities, headed for very serious trouble...?
5. Look at the latest census data...who is leaving, and who is moving in. Middle to upper middle class folks are retiring to Florida or other more tax friendly places, taking their disposable income with them...Look at what is moving in...Now, look at the property around the airport that has already or will come off the tax rolls, DO THE MATH ON THE FUTURE REVENUE SIDE...Less taxable property with lower median income by city census...Houston, do you see a problem? Stop kicking the can down the road, start telling the truth, which would be refreshing, and deal with this very serious problem...Calamari as a state dish helps NOTHING!