City Council auditor: Elorza off $7 million in firefighter contract savings
By Kirsten Glavin
@kirstenglavin
PROVIDENCE, RI – Somewhere along the line, the numbers don’t add up. An newly released internal audit done by the Providence City Council, shows a $7 million dollar shortfall in proposed firefighter contract savings, compared to the estimate the Elorza administration released.
"The financial information the administration has submitted to the internal orders office in the council is not complete,” explained John Igliozzi, chairman of the finance committee.
The administration projects $16 million dollars in savings over the next five years. The auditor announced it would be about $9 million.
"At this point there is a $7 million dollar shortfall in the alleged savings,” said Igliozzi.
Igliozzi told ABC6 News the problem stems from a misstep on the administrations report. He said they failed to account for 12 new battalion chief jobs, all union positions, making between $100,00 and $125,000 per year. Over five years, the costs would reflect the $7,000,000 overlooked.
"The administration will have to come back and explain all of these financial miscues,” said Igliozzi.
Public safety commissioner Steven Pare was quick to defend the administration’s numbers, Thursday night.
He responded with the following statement:
“The administration stands behind the numbers provided in the fiscal note for the tentative agreement with the firefighters’ union. We aggressively disagree with the claims from the City Council and will respond accordingly. Furthermore, while the Finance Chairman’s call to adjust pensions through this contract may have surface appeal, he is confusing the actual issue. Substantial pension reform cannot be accomplished through collective bargaining agreements as the overwhelming majority of the unfunded liability lies with retirees, not current employees. Changes to pension contributions from new or current employees, even substantial changes, would have a minute impact on the total unfunded liability and on the ARC. On the contrary, retiree contributions to health co-shares, such as those achieved under this tentative agreement, will have a greater impact on reducing long-term OPEB liabilities than pension contribution changes. Even more, the manning reduction will result in fewer full-time fire fighters and there are great long-term structural savings in reducing that overall number.”
