Covina Council to Decide Monday if It Can Afford Firefighters’ Pact

The City Council will vote Monday on a proposed contract for firefighters that, if approved, could force Covina to dip into reserve funds or cut city services, officials say.

Exact figures that will be voted on were unavailable, and the two sides dispute over how much of a raise Covina’s 34 firefighters will get. Mayor Bob Low says the raises range from 9% to 17%; union spokesmen say they are 11%.

In either case, Low says the raises--retroactive to Jan. 1-- will cost more than $375,000 in 1990, more than the city can afford. Other city officials, however, maintain that competitive wages are necessary to keep quality firefighters in town.

Fire union negotiator John Gembrini said his members have accepted the elimination of education incentives, life insurance and long-term disability benefits. The union approved the contract Feb. 22.

The raises, to go into effect retroactively beginning Jan. 1, will simply bring his members’ pay up to the median salary of nine comparable fire departments--Alhambra, Arcadia, Downey, La Verne, Monrovia, Montebello, San Gabriel, South Pasadena and West Covina.

The City Council agreed before the survey to pay Covina firefighters whatever the median of the surveyed cities was. Gembrini said the firefighters’ salaries have been below the median for 2 1/2 years.

The three-year contract also provides for an additional 2% raise in July, he said. Next year salaries will be adjusted to be competitive with the prevailing median, using the same cities. Salary negotiations can be renewed for the third year.

The current salary range for Covina firefighters is between $2,387 and $3,757 a month. Each employee receives $27.50 a month in life insurance and long-term disability insurance, and the special pay for completing higher education ranges up to $207 a month.

Low said the raises “have increased beyond the ability of the city to pay. In terms of the number of people who have applied for the jobs, the market doesn’t justify it.” In a recruitment drive last year, the Fire Department drew nearly 200 applicants, at least 100 of whom were qualified, he said.

But Councilman Henry Morgan said that the contract proposal is fair and that the city would be showing bad faith in backing off from the median surveyed.

Morgan said he is hoping voters will approve an advisory tax measure on the April ballot to fund the increases. If it is supported, the council is expected to impose an eight-year property tax of $72 annually on the average single-family residence for fire protection. The tax would generate more than $1.6 million annually for the city beginning with the 1990-91 fiscal year.

“If we pull that off, that’ll be able to cover (the raises),” Morgan said. Otherwise, cuts in city services might have to be made, “possibly by July,” he said.

“We’ve got a reserve we can tie into safely till July” to fund the salary increases, said Councilman Chris Lancaster, who supports the contract.

City Manager John Thomson said that falling back on reserves is nothing new for the city. Covina has had a negative cash flow for years, and $378,000 of the city’s $23 million budget for the 1989-90 fiscal year is based on reserves, he said. That budget allowed for a 5% raise for firefighters beginning Jan. 1.