JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – The finance committees of the JEA and Jacksonville City Council heard from utility employees Tuesday who are concerned that a proposal to help fund the Police and Fire Pension Fund that would remove JEA employees from the city pension fund.
Mayor Alvin Brown's plan to help fill the $1.6 million deficit in the city's funding for police and fire retirees includes a $120 million one-time contribution from the JEA. Brown insists the play would not require an increase in electric or water/sewer rates.
Under the plan, the JEA would borrow the money, which along with $120 million borrowed by the city and about $60 million in pension funds, would be put toward the liability.
In exchange, JEA would get a reduction in its annual contribution to the city's general fund starting in fiscal 2016-17. The JEA currently contributes more than $21 million per year to the city's general fund.
The proposed partnership also includes a provision for JEA to have the option to establish an employee retirement plan separate from the city.
That last point is why dozens of JEA workers turned out at Tuesday's meeting.
"A lot of the guys here, they could retire any day now, and that's going to cut our core workforce," said Richard Goodin, a 15-year employee of JEA.
JEA's CEO said the plan is a work in progress, and there's no reason for anyone to be concerned at this point.
"I think it's really early to understand what the concerns that they might have," CEO Paul McElroy said. "We started this conversation a week ago. Right now, we're at the emotional level. We've got to sit down and understand really what's possible."
The plan being discussed was approved Thursday by the JEA's finance committee, but still must be approved by the JEA's full board and is subject to City Council approval.
"I think that JEA has been a good partner with the city over time and we want make it fair to both sides," said City Council member Jim Love. "It's got to be good for JEA. It's also got to be good for the city."
The agreement with the utility would help fund a watered-down agreement between Brown and the pension fund board approved by City Council last year. Questions remained about where the additional $40 million in funding for each of the next 10 years would come from.
The pension fund board has not yet agreed to the City Council plan and is objecting to lowered cost-of-living adjustments, the length of the agreement and other issues.