MIDLAND, Texas — More tense negotiations were held Wednesday between the City of Midland and the firefighters regarding the Midland Firemen's Retirement and Relief fund.
The funding resolution, which was brought forth by the firefighters, had some changes but relied on the city being able to contribute.
“We brought a resolution stating how we wanted to move forward with some plan changes [with] another vote of the firefighters to change the plan to reduce the liability amount," said Justin Graham, the chairman of the Midland Firemen's Retirement and Relief fund. "It was going to be contingent this time to make sure that the city did their part and comes to the table and and helps us solve this issue that we have with the liability.”
A part of the plan involved making a five percent cut in firefighter benefits to give the city and the taxpayers some help in regards to funding the plan, while many other changes came to the liabilities of both sides.
“This plan, it leaves the firefighters paying 40% of the total liability, and it leaves the city with only 60% of the total liability," Graham said. "So we're asking, you know, 250 guys are paying for 40% of this problem and we're trying to move forward and we're trying to get this done.”
City representatives, however, had mixed feelings regarding this new plan.
They felt like they had been caught off guard by the funding resolution, saying they only learned about it on Wednesday after they sat down at the table.
Tensions began to flare when Midland Mayor Lori Blong requested for the city to have 72 hours to look over the resolution with their attorneys in order to make a proper vote to approve it.
“The 72 hours is because it takes us 72 hours to post an open meeting," Graham said. "So they wanted to leave this meeting and get some input from some of their professionals I presume.”
While the city would eventually get their wish regarding the 72 hours, it left many firefighters in the room feeling disappointed in what they saw as inactivity.
“It was said that the city was going to do something significant whenever we were educating the membership about about taking this vote, and when the city came back and put an additional 2% contributions after the firefighters did 7.1% and contributions that kind of broke the trust the firefighters thought well, the city is not serious about fixing this problem,” said Graham.
Mayor Blong would tell NewsWest 9 in a statement that, "On behalf of the Midland City Council, I want to reiterate that we are committed to fixing the Fire Relief and Retirement Fund. We recognize the importance of these discussions for our firefighters and community, and we appreciate the dedication of all parties in advancing this matter. We look forward to continuing this dialogue in Monday's special meeting, working together toward solutions that best serve Midland and our first responders."
The board of trustees agreed to issue a request for proposals for a lobbyist to represent the pension fund.
The next meeting between the board is set for Nov. 4 at 2 p.m.