Santa Rosa approves deal to boost firefighters’ pay

Santa Rosa is on track to settle a 2-year-old lawsuit over firefighters' overtime pay after the City Council approved a deal Tuesday to boost pay for 118 unionized firefighters.

The council unanimously approved without discussion Tuesday a deal to increase salaries, expand pension contributions and provide one-time lump-sum payments of at least $5,000 to firefighters while reducing the city's maximum health insurance contributions to those employees.

It also makes changes to how the city calculates holiday and sick leave incentive pay. The firefighters' union alleged in its March 2017 lawsuit that the city systematically underpaid its members for overtime earnings in previous years.

The agreement, which covers July 2017 through June 2020, is estimated to cost just under $1.1 million in the current fiscal year and result in increased costs of about $2.2 million annually in the next fiscal year, according to city documents.

Federal court documents note that a judge in March asked the city and the union to secure approval from the City Council and the affected firefighters, respectively, as a precursor to dismissing the lawsuit.

You can reach Staff Writer Will Schmitt at 707-521-5207 or will.schmitt@pressdemocrat.com. On Twitter @wsreports.