The City Council voted at its Aug. 12, 2013, meeting to postpone action on a tentative agreement on a renewal of the contract between the City and International Association of Fire Fighters (IAFF) Local 521 to its meeting of Aug. 26.  The postponement was made to allow Local 521 to vote on the tentative agreement Aug. 15-16.  However, the vote was canceled after it was discovered that the City and Local 521 disagreed on the outcome of the language for a portion of the agreement dealing with health insurance.  The City and Local 521 bargaining teams will need to meet again on the matter and then it will go to a vote of Local 521.  Therefore, staff is recommending that Council consideration of the agreement be postponed until Sept. 23, 2013, to allow those steps to be taken.

The City Council may:

• Postpone action on the contract to Sept. 23, 2013.

Postponing consideration of the agreement will have no immediate financial effect.

A proposed 2.9% COLA for the first two years of the 3-year contract will cost $261,000 for Fiscal Year (FY) 2014 and $268,569 for FY 2015.  The cost of the COLA for the final year of the contract will depend on what is negotiated for FY 2016.  There is adequate funding in General Fund reserves to cover the increases, although a budget amendment and transfer will be required.

A proposed increase in the cost of the health insurance to retirement benefit will depend on the increase in the cost of health insurance, which will not be known until January of each year.

Staff recommends postponing consideration of the agreement to Sept. 23, 2013.