The job of a firefighter is definitely not for anyone, and the pay they receive is not always desirable either.
The pension firefighters get is often what lures new recruits into joining fire departments. The Waseca Firefighters Relief Association (WFFRA) has requested the city increase the pension service allocation for its members by $500 per year. The organization’s president Eric Cox and treasurer Joe Fliflet presented to the Waseca City Council at its May 21 meeting about the proposed increase to the pension levels.
Presentation
Cox started the presentation by saying that when he was interviewed to become a firefighter seven years ago, the fire captain told him that he’ll never get rich from the work.
“The fire service is about serving the community,” Cox said. “It’s about helping others in their darkest hours and saving lives and protecting property.”
The Waseca Fire Department, like many fire departments now, is not volunteer-based anymore, as its firefighters get paid every time they respond to a call and get paid for any training they receive.
But the pay firefighters receive is low; the hourly rate for Waseca firefighters when they answer calls is about $11. That is why the real financial benefit of being in the department is the pension firefighters earn through their years of service.
The last time the WFFRA saw an increase to its pension service allocation for its members was in 2021 at a sum of $5,500 a year. Cox and Fliflet came to the council to request a $500 increase to the allocation per year to bring the total to $6,000 per year per member.
“The pension level needs to be adjusted periodically, as funding supports,” said Cox. “The goal is to give the firefighters the maximum benefit amount while maintaining minimum risk to our special fund from being underfunded.”
The increase to the pension allotments will not have any effect on the city’s tax dollars and does not require tax levies, as the source of the funding will come from the association’s private managed special fund.
Financial fund security
After their presentation, Cox and Fliflet opened up for questions from the council, with council member Mark Christiansen speaking up about his concerns if there is a market crash.
Cox assured Christiansen that the chances of the fund becoming completely drained are extremely minimal since firefighters have to be vested for 10 years in the department and have to be over the age of 50 in order to pull out the funds.
Cox also stated that only six out of 31 firefighters in Waseca are able to collect their pension if they did walk out now, since only six are over the age of 50.
“We’ve got history here,” Cox said about the fire department and the city of Waseca. “We’ve weathered many financial storms, including the 2007 financial crisis, we didn’t have a problem then.
Christiansen then brought up how the city did have to help the WFFRA a little bit after the financial crisis around 2010. He also brought up how the special fund is overfunded now but could be easily underfunded if the stock market crashed.
Cox irritated that while there is a chance the stock market crashes once again, the WFFRA will survive.
“We can’t say it’ll never happen, I’m just saying the chances of it are minimal,” Cox said about the possibility of having firefighters walk out and drain the special fund.
City Manager Carl Sonnenberg also stated that the financials of the special fund is at a good place.
“I’m not sure that there’s too many conversations and decisions that the council makes that aren’t risky, so the question is is it risk adverse or what’s the analytical analysis behind the recommendation,” Sonnenberg said. “In this case it’s financially sound.”
Since it’s been over three years since the WFFRA has come to the council about a raise to their pension service allocations, Cox stated he would like to come to the council on a yearly basis to see if increases to the allocations are necessary.
“Ideally I would like to come here every year at this time, present the same exact thing and see where the numbers are,” Cox said. “Maybe some years it doesn’t justify a raise; maybe it does.”
Christiansen responded by thanking Cox and Fliflet for communicating with the council about the matter, and appreciates the idea of presenting this to them every year. He also stated that he thinks there is going to be a market crash and his concerns are because of that.
“I’m just trying to get across the message of what could happen,” Christiansen said. “I want to make sure that people understand that we’re really promoting Waseca in our public safety and are spending the money to keep good people.”
Cox hopes the potential increase to the pension service allocation will help with recruitment for the Fire Department and help convince people to join as it is a good investment.
The council was in favor of the increase, with council member Jeremy Conrath making a motion to approve and John Mansfield seconding.
“I hope the public understands that this is a very minimal amount for the firefighters with what you guys give to the community over 20 years,” Mansfield said.
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