Published: July 01, 2009 09:55 pm      

Budget amendment offers possible reprieve

Measure might help city avoid laying off firefighters

State Sen. Randy Head says that it is now up to the Logansport City Council to decide whether funds released from a dormant pension fund will be used to pay firefighters’ wages and prevent a 10-man cut.

Head, R-Logansport, confirmed to around 70 past and present Logansport firefighters and police officers Wednesday morning that a funding boost for the fire department had been secured in a last-minute amendment to the state budget.

For the Logansport police and fire departments, it means around $2 million in additional funds will be available to meet payroll expenses.

Head said the money is from a public safety pension fund account that, under the terms of property tax reform, was cut off to the city after the state began funding public safety pension plans.

“These are the guys that might be getting laid off,” Head said. “Some of them are starting families. It’s a hard time to find a job. To be able to do something to get that ball rolling and to be able to help everyone who may need the fire department for some reason is a very gratifying and moving experience.”

Initial signs appear to indicate the council will support the measure.

Council president Chuck LaDow said it would have to look at how the funds would transfer from the state to the local level.

“It is something we will absolutely look at,” LaDow said. “If the money is there and the state can assure us that it is there, then we will definitely look at it.”

In total, the fire department has around $1.2 million and the police department $770,000 in the fund from pension contributions of past personnel, Head said. If the city council agrees, these funds will be used to pay the city’s 19.5-percent contribution to pension plans, estimated at around $500,000 per year, which should be enough to save the 10 firefighters’ jobs for the next four years.

“The city has this money in an account which can no longer be used for any other purpose but for the purpose that it was intended,” Head said. “That money just sits there, and no one can get to it. It came from firefighters’ and policemen’s salaries so it is not allowed to be used to shore up any other budget deficit or any other project at all.”

Head, however, warned the money represented only a temporary solution.

“It’s a short-term fix because, when the money is gone from that account, it is just gone,” Head said. “This does not raise a tax, it doesn’t cost taxpayers a dime; it uses money that is already there. That’s a good thing, but the flipside of that is there is no mechanism for raising any more. When it’s gone, it will be gone.”

With some still wearing T-shirts with the slogan “I am one of the 10 firefighters,” fire department personnel were elated at hearing the news that their jobs might be saved.

Firefighters’ union president Mark Strong said the state union officials had encouraged him to consult with Head to change the law so the funds could be used to pay the pension contribution.

While firefighters are pleased there was a solution to the funding problems this year, he said efforts would continue to secure the long-term future of the department.

“This just gets us through the crunch until we get some other ideas,” Strong said. “We have just been working our tail off to stop our guys from getting laid off and the people of Logansport and the surrounding areas from being unprotected.”

Strong said fire department personnel would still attend Monday’s city council meeting to voice their concerns.

“They have still got stuff going on, and we have got to let them know that the public did not want to see these cuts anyway,” Strong said.

In the meantime, officials see the long-term solution to the funding problems to be the establishment of a fire territory.

Strong said that he, Fire Chief Bob McMinn and other fire department personnel met in Indianapolis on Monday with state union officials and Eel Township Trustee Tom Knepper to discuss forming a territory.

He said the meeting went well, with Knepper agreeing to form the territory if the city agrees to keep its existing staff numbers.

“He’s agreed to do it as long as we keep 40 men here,” Strong said. “He doesn’t want to pay more money for less service.”

Strong said that once the fire territory has been established, the increased revenue might allow the fire department to build new stations to better serve the townships included in the territory. The department might even be able to hire more personnel.

“If we get this going, things could be better than ever,” Strong said. “We could go from one extreme to the other.”

Logansport Mayor Mike Fincher admitted he was unaware of Head’s amendment until Wednesday morning. If the council finds that it can use the money, he said it will give the city the time it needs to form a fire district.

“Hopefully before that money is gone we will have formed a territory,” Fincher said. “If they become active, we can achieve a lot of things. It gives us a year.”

Fincher added, however, that while he believes the council will support the measure to assist the fire department, similar funds are not available for other city departments which are still likely to lose personnel in the final budget.

“It is a difficult time,” Fincher said. “This helps the fire department, but we are still going to have to make cuts.”

• Kevin Smith is a staff writer at the Pharos-Tribune. He can be reached at (574) 732-5148 or kevin.smith@pharostribune.com