Politics & Government

Mayor Says State Reforms Should Include Police, Fire Unions

Ponto supports governor's fiscal reforms, but says excluding police and fire unions creates inequities that need changes.

Brookfield Mayor Steve Ponto praised Gov. Scott Walker for his proposed fiscal reforms, but said exempting police and fire unions creates inequities that need to be fixed.

Ponto refrained from throwing his support behind another Walker proposal - to freeze all local government property tax levies for two years except for new construction growth. The mayor said he and city finance officials need to study the details.

"Overall, I'm very supportive of what he (Walker) is doing," Ponto said in an interview after returning from the state Capitol, where he listened to the governor's budget address. "I think it's very important the state government get its economic house in order. I give the governor credit for dealing forthright with it and not using gimmicks like one-time funds."

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Ponto added: "Having said that, I think it's extremely important that the problems in state government not simply be transferred to local governments."

The governor has said even though he is proposing $1.25 billion in cuts to local schools and government, his budget repair bill would offset those cuts with $1.5 billion in savings. The savings would occur by requiring most public employees to pay more of their pension and health costs, and stripping away unions' ability to collectively bargain any issue other than a maximum wage increase tied to the consumer price index.

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However, those billion-dollar figures are statewide totals. Drilling down to how the numbers shake out for each individual town, village, city, county, technical college and school district will vary, with some winners and some losers.

How Brookfield's city and town and the Elmbrook School District will fare is yet unknown.

Walker said he would cut about $96 million in shared revenue to local governments, plus another 10% cut in state transportation aids.

The city receives about $650,000 in state shared revenue and $1.87 million in state transportation aids. Β 

But on the savings side, Ponto said early calculations show Brookfield would save $502,000 in health and pension costs for its non-union employees.Β 

The city has settled contracts with its unions, and most contracts don't expire until Dec. 13, 2013. Once they do expire, the city could see an additional savings of $280,000 as those workers would pay more for health and pension, Ponto said.

The governor is calling on public employees to pay a 5.8 percent pension contribution and 12.6 percent of their health insurance premiums.

All city of Brookfield employees currently pay nothing toward their pension plans. Like many local governments, the city pays the full cost of both the employer and employee contributions to the Wisconsin Retirement System.

The governor's proposals, however, would not impose the pension and health payments on police officers, firefighters, county sheriff deputies and state patrol troopers who are represented by a union.Β 

That exemption creates situations where Brookfield police and fire command staff - who are not part of the union - may end up making less money than the employees they supervise, said Ponto and James Zwerlein, city human resources director.

Police sergeants, for example, would have to start paying 5.8 percent of their wages toward their pensions, reducing their take-home pay, while the patrol officers they supervise would continue to pay nothing toward their pensions.

"I don't think there should be a distinction between employees," Ponto said. "I think that the police and fire should be on the same basis as other unionized employees."

He added: "We would like the flexibility to deal with inequities."

As for the property tax freeze, Brookfield increased its tax levy by less than 1 percent last year. New construction has slowed dramatically not just in Brookfield but most municipalities due to the economy.

The city might have some additional funds to offset state cuts: it ended 2010 with a $1.25 million surplus. The Common Council's Finance Committee began debating possible uses for the funds and will continue that discussion at its next meeting.


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