MANSFIELD — The City of Mansfield will use American Rescue Plan Act funds to pay each of its sworn firefighters a $6,000 “retention payment,” according to a letter Richland Source obtained Wednesday through a public records request.
With an authorized department strength of 93 sworn firefighters, the bonuses could amount to as much as $558,000.
The bonus awards are not part of a new, three-year contract approved by City Council on Tuesday and by members of the International Association of Firefighters Local 266 last week.
Richland Source has asked for a copy of the new contract, retroactive to April 1, 2022. Human Resources Director Sharon May said on Wednesday it’s not yet in finalized form.
The bonus plan was made known in a “letter of acknowledgement” dated Jan. 26, signed by Mayor Tim Theaker, interim Safety Service Director Dave Remy and May.
That letter was written less than a month after a state fact-finder agreed with the city administration that retention bonuses should not be a part of a new collective bargaining agreement.
IAFF Local 266, during contract negotiations, had argued its members deserved “retention incentives” comparable to the $6,500 one-time awards paid to the city’s police officers earlier this year.
However, Lyndhurst attorney Donald Jaffee, appointed by the State Employment Relations Board to provided fact-finding services, noted in his Dec. 15 report that the fire department has not experienced the same staffing shortage as seen by the city’s police division.
“There is no question that this payment represents disparate treatment between the police and the fire personnel, but not every instance of disparate treatment is illegal,” Jaffee wrote.
Remy said the city didn’t want the bonus issued tied to the contract.
“It’s not a contractual issue. It’s a separate factor” he said, referring to ARPA as “gifted money from the federal government.”
FOP members received $6,500 retention bonuses and a 7.75 percent pay increase when their new contract was announced last year. It does not appear firefighters received the same pay increase.
Remy said Thursday the bonus payments for police officers were included in a memorandum of understanding, but were not a part of that contract, either.
According to the “letter of acknowledgement” regarding firefighters, the city will pay the bonuses no later than the end of July, including payments to the chief, assistant chiefs and captains.
“All sworn (firefighters) are eligible for the bonus,” May said Thursday.
All full-time, sworn firefighters who have completed at least one year of service in the MFD will receive the bonus — provided by they are still employed there on the date bonus are paid.
Any full-time city firefighter who has not completed one year of service when bonuses are paid shall receive their bonus when that one year of service is complete.
City Council must still vote on the bonuses. Local lawmakers were informed of the bonus plan during an executive session Tuesday night when the new contract was discussed.
According to the letter, “this letter only acknowledges the intent of the Mayor to gift the ‘retention payment’ limited by the powers possessed by his Office and shall not be construed as a labor negotiation, contract, agreement or promise to any employee.”
