PARKERSBURG — Parkersburg City Council’s Finance Committee will meet at 6:30 p.m. today to discuss retention pay for the Police and Fire departments.
An ordinance had been proposed to grant 50-cents-an-hour increases to police officers and firefighters once they had served 10, 15 and 20 years. Council’s Personnel Committee amended it to $1 an hour for each milestone.
When the full council considered the ordinance on Aug. 10, some members spoke against the higher amount, saying the future financial impact wasn’t known. Council voted 5-4 to table the ordinance.
Mayor Tom Joyce said a $1-an-hour raise for all police and firefighters reaching the milestones would equate to “an additional $15.2 million in added liability to the police and fire pension” with the assumption of a standard 2 percent raise each year. The liability for the 50 cents-an-hour plan is closer to $13 million, he said.
“There needs to be some common-sense approach given as to what does this do to the City of Parkersburg,” Joyce said. “I hope that we can come to some compromise.”
Joyce said the original measure was proposed as an effort to retain police officers after they’re eligible to retire at 20 years. Firefighters tend to stay longer but in their case, the incentive was meant as a way to reward longer-serving firefighters, who wouldn’t make more than a five-year member if they did not move up in rank.
