Budget cuts to a county / city near you...

[BustNChops]

Steep budget cuts are coming in early 2010 and Las Vegas has planted some seeds...

LINK (http://www.rgj.com/article/20091231/NEWS07/91231012)

I know the City of Reno has told employees that 160 people are on the block and a vote will come early next month. It is my understanding that the number is closer to 200 - 220. I hope these cuts don't affect many of you on this board.

[Paw]

I've heard it may take a decade for the City of Reno to recover.

[battle.borne]

I've heard it may take a decade for the City of Reno to recover.

As a recent first time home buyer I say to your comments

Happy new year?


ouch.

[Stuck in Seattle]

Steep budget cuts are coming in early 2010 and Las Vegas has planted some seeds...

LINK (http://www.rgj.com/article/20091231/NEWS07/91231012)



I know the City of Reno has told employees that 160 people are on the block and a vote will come early next month. It is my understanding that the number is closer to 200 - 220. I hope these cuts don't affect many of you on this board.

I've been preaching this on this board for years.

From the article:

The report said $180,000 in average wages and benefits for firefighters is “outrageous.” The Las Vegas Review-Journal reported Thursday that the average compensation rose in 2008 to more than $199,000.
Now I guarantee you the screams will be deafening from the fire department if any cuts are demanded. But how difficult would it be to find firemen at an average of $120k a year instead of $199k a year? They could just cut wages across the board and not lose any coverage.

But that won't happen. They'll scream bloody murder, the newspapers will publish articles expressing the sentiment that people will die if they cuts go through, and any city official that votes for cuts will become a target for the union and they'll do everything they can to make sure that person is voted out of office.

This is already happening in other communities and it's only going to spread even further. Police and Fire Unions have secured unimaginable pay and benefits that will be bankrupting communities across the country. And that's just the tip of the spear. A recent article showed that federal government employees earn far more than employees in private industry doing the same jobs. City and county salaries and wages have experienced rapid increases over the last 15 years as well. Ditto with education where bigger and bigger percentages of revenue are allocated to admin salaries and less and less to actual education.

Public employee unions have created a situation where we exist and are allowed to work in order to serve their needs more than the opposite. We in private industry are the new serfs.

The bad economy didn't cause this problem. It simply exposed it about 5 or 6 years earlier than had been predicted.

[chriswebb86]

I've been preaching this on this board for years.

From the article:

The report said $180,000 in average wages and benefits for firefighters is “outrageous.” The Las Vegas Review-Journal reported Thursday that the average compensation rose in 2008 to more than $199,000.
Now I guarantee you the screams will be deafening from the fire department if any cuts are demanded. But how difficult would it be to find firemen at an average of $120k a year instead of $199k a year? They could just cut wages across the board and not lose any coverage.

But that won't happen. They'll scream bloody murder, the newspapers will publish articles expressing the sentiment that people will die if they cuts go through, and any city official that votes for cuts will become a target for the union and they'll do everything they can to make sure that person is voted out of office.

This is already happening in other communities and it's only going to spread even further. Police and Fire Unions have secured unimaginable pay and benefits that will be bankrupting communities across the country. And that's just the tip of the spear. A recent article showed that federal government employees earn far more than employees in private industry doing the same jobs. City and county salaries and wages have experienced rapid increases over the last 15 years as well. Ditto with education where bigger and bigger percentages of revenue are allocated to admin salaries and less and less to actual education.

Public employee unions have created a situation where we exist and are allowed to work in order to serve their needs more than the opposite. We in private industry are the new serfs.

The bad economy didn't cause this problem. It simply exposed it about 5 or 6 years earlier than had been predicted.Overtime is the reason for firefighters for making so much money. My father who was a firefighter maxed out around 60,000 as his base Salary. However, for about 10 years he averaged over 100k because of overtime.

[Stuck in Seattle]

Overtime is the reason for firefighters for making so much money. My father who was a firefighter maxed out around 60,000 as his base Salary. However, for about 10 years he averaged over 100k because of overtime.

That's a feature not a bug. How many more could be hired instead of using overtime? How much overtime is utilized in final years leading up to retirement to boost pensions? I know that happens with the police, though I'm not sure with fire. How many companies would let overtime pay be 40% of an average employee's annual salary? How long has a fireman's annual wage including overtime been 4 times the state's average income per family?

The overtime is by design.

[Paw]

The overtime is by design.


Yes, exactly, SIS....

[AJ fan]

That's a feature not a bug. How many more could be hired instead of using overtime? How much overtime is utilized in final years leading up to retirement to boost pensions? I know that happens with the police, though I'm not sure with fire. How many companies would let overtime pay be 40% of an average employee's annual salary? How long has a fireman's annual wage including overtime been 4 times the state's average income per family?

The overtime is by design.

Most fire depts. are the same. This issue caused the city of Vallejo to go bankrupt a few years ago.

[BustNChops]

The stink the fire fighters caused about 9-months back was because of the over time issue. It was wrapped up in the city asking them for concessions on their contract. Ultimately, the fire fighters finally gave up a 4.9% future wage increase. I don't ever know what happened to the overtime issue. I believe they still have overtime, but is now very limited. The issue before was in fact a "bug: - or really done deceitfully. Overtime was pre-arranged by the fighters. The plan went something like this: 1) firefighter A clocked out to go home and would then just sit on parking lot. 2) firefighter B would call in sick. 3) firefighter A would be called and asked to come back for a back-to-back shift. 4) firefighter B would get time and a half (both pay and PERS) for the shift. I believe the hole in this was plugged by the new Chief and that is why the Union was trying to oust the Fire Chief via a vote of no confidence. These guys/gals forget that it is the tax payer that is paying for all of this and when they cheat the system, they are cheating you/me.

[chriswebb86]

The stink the fire fighters caused about 9-months back was because of the over time issue. It was wrapped up in the city asking them for concessions on their contract. Ultimately, the fire fighters finally gave up a 4.9% future wage increase. I don't ever know what happened to the overtime issue. I believe they still have overtime, but is now very limited. The issue before was in fact a "bug: - or really done deceitfully. Overtime was pre-arranged by the fighters. The plan went something like this: 1) firefighter A clocked out to go home and would then just sit on parking lot. 2) firefighter B would call in sick. 3) firefighter A would be called and asked to come back for a back-to-back shift. 4) firefighter B would get time and a half (both pay and PERS) for the shift. I believe the hole in this was plugged by the new Chief and that is why the Union was trying to oust the Fire Chief via a vote of no confidence. These guys/gals forget that it is the tax payer that is paying for all of this and when they cheat the system, they are cheating you/me.
I know a lot of Fire Departments have started something where if you take a shift off or have a sick day during a pay period your overtime becomes straight pay.

[NevadaAllStar]

The stink the fire fighters caused about 9-months back was because of the over time issue. It was wrapped up in the city asking them for concessions on their contract. Ultimately, the fire fighters finally gave up a 4.9% future wage increase. I don't ever know what happened to the overtime issue. I believe they still have overtime, but is now very limited. The issue before was in fact a "bug: - or really done deceitfully. Overtime was pre-arranged by the fighters. The plan went something like this: 1) firefighter A clocked out to go home and would then just sit on parking lot. 2) firefighter B would call in sick. 3) firefighter A would be called and asked to come back for a back-to-back shift. 4) firefighter B would get time and a half (both pay and PERS) for the shift. I believe the hole in this was plugged by the new Chief and that is why the Union was trying to oust the Fire Chief via a vote of no confidence. These guys/gals forget that it is the tax payer that is paying for all of this and when they cheat the system, they are cheating you/me.

yeah the firefighters gave back alot of money and adjusted the overtime issue, but then their admin screwed them and over spent the budget by almost 3 Million, now the rank and file are suffering layoffs because the leadership is completely inept...and more bad times are coming