City unions push back on proposed cuts

<p>In an outspoken rebuke of the City Council, city employee unions pushed back this week on proposals for cuts in their ranks to try to alleviate city budget problems expected in the near future.</p><p>Representatives from the main unions for city workers said that employees have already made major concessions, and the responsibility to balance the budget lies with the city, not them. Rather than ask for more from workers, city leaders should have acted sooner to approve retail development projects to increase the city's tax base and ensure funding for vital services, said representatives from the Coalition of Petaluma Employees.</p><p>“Instead of doing the legwork, they turn to employees for concessions,” said Police Detective Paul Gilman, president of the Peace Officers Association of Petaluma.</p><p>“COPE continues to feel that accepting furloughs may have been a mistake as the continuing delay of project approvals has not diminished,” said COPE representatives in an e-mail interview. The city's major police, fire and administrative worker unions are a part of COPE, which includes 286 of the city's 292 permanent employees. City workers agreed to a furlough system in January that amounts to a 4 percent pay cut.</p><p>This year's budget, which was tentatively adopted by the council last week, reduces the city's reserve fund to about $5,000, leaving “little margin for error,” said City Manager John Brown. With costs continuing to outpace revenues, reserves were used up to prevent job cuts. Since revenue is stalled, council members David Rabbitt, Mike Harris and Mike Healy have discussed cutting positions or benefits to reduce the city's expenses and avoid a deficit next year.</p><p>City workers said that they were glad that jobs were preserved by the decision to slash the reserve fund, but that the city should not have reached the point of having to use up its reserves.</p><p>“I agree with using the money in reserves for a rainy day. It's raining now,” said Gilman. “What I don't agree with is getting to this point.”</p><p>Employees said that the lack of sales tax revenue is affecting vital services, which impacts residents most of all. </p><p>“The council has taken deliberate and direct steps to address increasing revenues while dealing with an overall decline in the economy,” said Mayor Pam Torliatt.</p><p>“The council majority has continued to support maintaining our existing staff,” she added. “There has been a high priority on public safety.”</p><p>In addition to staff cuts, council members have floated the idea of cuts to employee benefits, including the CalPERS retirement system for public safety and miscellaneous workers.</p><p>Petaluma contracts with CalPERS, the state employee pension system, to manage city workers' pensions. The city's unfunded pension costs have more than tripled since 2002. The city expects the rate it pays to CalPERS to increase this fall due to CalPERS investment losses and rising pension costs.</p><p>Some council members, including Mike Healy and David Rabbitt, have suggested modifying the pension system, which they say may be too generous and may be costing taxpayers too much.</p><p>“It may not be sustainable,” said Councilmember Teresa Barrett about the pension system. “It may not have ever been sustainable.”</p><p>But both Brown and Barrett said that any pension changes would have to take place at the bargaining table and are not something that the council could simply enact.</p><p>Employees say it is “premature” to consider modifying the pension system without first trying harder to increase revenue.</p><p>“We're a long way from sitting down and being able to discuss that,” Police Officer Ron Klein said about pensions.</p><p>Petaluma's pension system puts more of the burden on employees compared to other cities, said COPE representatives. All workers in Petaluma pay 7-9 percent into the pension system, unlike other cities.</p><p>Brown said that changes to the pension system may soon come at the state or regional level to ensure that all cities are on an even playing field for recruiting new workers.</p><p>“It would take a while to do it to get everybody on board,” said Brown.</p><p>Brown said that contract negotiations will continue with employees and that more concessions will be a part of the discussions.</p><p>“I don't think it's unreasonable for employees to take another look at what the split is between the city and employees (for contributions towards benefits),” he said.</p><p>Brown said that meetings are to be held every six months about ending the furlough system and that other check-ins have been held in the meantime.</p><p>But employees said they would like more meetings or informal talks to be kept in the loop about decisions that might affect them.</p><p>(Contact Philip Riley at philip.riley@arguscourier.com)</p>