Elyria mayor, Ohio Mayors Alliance say bill boosting police pension contribution would "devastate" budgets

Elyria Mayor Kevin Brubaker joined the Ohio Mayors Alliance in Columbus on Monday to oppose a bill in the Ohio House that the alliance says would raise police pensions too quickly for its cities to handle. House Bill 296, which would gradually increase municipal contributions to the Ohio Police and Fire Pension Fund to 24 percent of an officer's salary, is expected to go before the full Ohio House of Representatives for a floor vote today. Brubaker was one of several mayors from around the state who voiced their opposition to HB 296 during a news conference at the Statehouse on Monday. If approved, HB 296 would increase employer contributions to police pension funds from 19.5 percent to 24 percent over the next six years. Firefighters already receive a 24 percent pension contribution. HB 296 also would increase the pension contribution of individual officers from 12.25 percent to 12.5 percent. Members of the Mayors Alliance, a bipartisan organization that includes the mayors of Ohio's 31 largest cities, opposed the bill Tuesday on the grounds that it would overburden their cities and actually harm the ability of their police departments to do their job. Members of the Ohio Municipal League, another nonpartisan group that represents many additional cities, joined the news conference to voice the opposition to HB 296. "We were fighting against it (HB 296), passing this in lame duck session without having additional conversations," Brubaker said of the meeting "... The Ohio Mayors Alliance and my view, when I spoke at the press conference, was; we know this is coming, it's gonna happen." Brubaker said that he and his fellow mayors were not opposed to increasing police pension contributions, but were against the state Legislature approving the increase so late in its current session without more input from municipal leaders and a plan to help those leaders afford the added expense. According to the alliance, Ohio municipalities currently contribute $300 million per year for police officer pensions to the Ohio Police and Fire Pension Fund and House Bill 296 would cost an additional $80 million in the sixth year. In Elyria, increasing the city's contribution to 24 percent would cost the city about $1.5 million per year, Finance Director Ted Pileski said. "We have to make sure we have the resources available to staff our streets today and take care of those who have served our communities well into the future, and we understand that that's an important part of making sure the pension fund is solvent in years to come," Findlay Mayor Christina Muryn said at the conference. "Our main concern is the way that we are addressing it right now, and making sure we are addressing it in a holistic manner so it is sustainable into the long term. It's a complex issue that cannot just be solved in a rushed manner." Muryn said that Findlay already dedicates between 8 percent and 10 percent of its annual budget to funding the police and fire pension, and an increase like that proposed in HB 296 could seriously strap that budget. The Ohio Fraternal Order of Police, a union representing more than 23,000 officers, is in favor of HB 296 and FOP President Jay McDonald argued that it was time for cities to pay their fair share after years of pension cuts to keep it solvent. "We've promised the men and women of public safety that we would provide them a stable and secure pension," McDonald said. "The state has a 30-year funding mandate and in 2026 the Ohio Police and Fire Pension Fund will slip out of that funding standard. They have to have a plan to get back into that and there's only two ways to do it; more revenue or cuts to retirees." McDonald said officers already have contributed their own revenue increase: Officer contributions increased from 10 percent to 12.25 percent in 2013, and accepted over $3.2 billion in cuts to keep the fund secure. It is time, he argued, for the employers to do their part. "What the employers pay, their percentage, has not changed since 1986," he said. "So we believe it is time for the employers to pay their fair share, because the employees have shouldered all of the previous concessions." In a release published in November, the Ohio Police and Fire Pension Fund shared that view, arguing an increase had been danced around for too long. "The cities' misinformation and excuses need to stop," Mary Beth Foley, executive director of the fund, said in the release. "Ohioans have repeatedly voiced their strong support of the police and firefighters who protect them. It's time for mayors and municipal leaders to do the same and support this legislation." Foley added that the legislation that became HB 296 was first introduced over two years ago, and said it was time for city leaders to stop putting off the change. McDonald said that cities already give firefighters a 24 percent contribution, which is still lower than the 26.5 percent contribution Ohio State Highway Patrol troopers recieve. "We get the same benefit, they pay the same amount in, but the cities pay different amounts, and that doesn't make sense to us," he said. "We believe that police officers and firefighters are equally important jobs and they deserve an equal contribution." At the news conference Monday, Toledo Mayor Wade Kapszukiewicz argued that the increase in pension costs would lead his city and many others to hire fewer police officers and firefighters due to the additional strain on their budgets. "This bill would devastate public safety in our communities," Kapszukiewicz said. "It would cause police and firefighters to be paid less, to be paid less well and it would cause there to be fewer of them to protect us. I can't imagine a more anti-police, anti-fire bill that this legislature has ever pursued … if you believed in defunding the police, you would support House Bill (296)." During the conference Monday, Brubaker said that at the end of 2023 Elyria increased its police salaries by about 15 percent to help with recruiting and retention. Increasing the city's pension contribution by 5 percent would "devastate" the city budget, he said. Brubaker said that he hoped to soon increase Elyria police to 90 officers, but that the city would be unable to do so if HB 296 is passed. He said that like many of the other mayors who spoke, he is aware police pensions must be increased, but Brubaker said passing HB 296 at the end of the legislative session with no further discussion and no plan to help fund it would harm communities and their safety forces. "This unfunded mandate would kill my budget, and I am not in a position to support this in any way, shape or form," Brubaker said. "I agree with my colleagues here this afternoon that there has to be additional conversation (and) continued discussion. And it needs to include the mayors, the townships, the trustees of all of our communities in the state of Ohio to make this thing work. I am not against increasing (the pension contribution) but there could be ways of increasing this that are not going to devastate police departments, fire departments and communities." McDonald said that in addition to a strong pension being a promise already made to existing officers and retirees, the prospect of a pension was crucial for officer recruitment. "Every chief and sheriff in Ohio will tell you that the No. 1 problem in law enforcement is recruitment and retention," he said. "And if we do not have a strong and secure pension system, we will not be able to attract the best and brightest to our profession and we will not be able to keep the best and brightest in our profession once they start." State Rep. Gayle Manning, R-North Ridgeville, is a co-sponsor of HB 296 and said she expects the bill to receive a vote on the House floor at 2 p.m. today. Manning said she has talked extensively with mayors in her district who are concerned about the cost and sympathizes with them, but she feels it is crucial to keep the police and fire pension strong. "Our police and fire are very important to all of us," she said. "They keep us safe, and that's one of the most important things people want us to do in government. It's a tough call, and I sympathize with the mayors and they shared with me the costs that this will (create). So we'll have to keep looking at that and help them in some way." Manning said that if the bill passes and moved on to the state Senate, the Legislature would have to have discussions about adding assistance for municipalities to the budget to help them pay for the increased contribution. HB 296 has been approved out of committee, but to be implemented in this session it still needs to be passed by the full House, passed through the state Senate and then signed by Gov. Mike DeWine. If it does not pass through the entire process by the end of the year, the legislation will be nullified and would have to restart the process in committee. There is a companion bill to HB 296 in the Senate, which Manning said could speed up the process, but the Senate bill has not moved as quickly as 296. Brubaker said Monday that he was not confident that the Legislature would pass through the Senate before the end of the 135th General Assembly session. Contact Owen MacMillan at (440) 329-7123 or omacmillan@chroniclet.com.