Zimmer Urges Council to Pass $700K in Terminal Pay for Firemen

Mayor Dawn Zimmer on Thursday night said the responsibility to pay for is now in the city council's hands.

On Thursday night, the four council members who oppose the current administration, decided not to attend a meeting to vote on the terminal leave that is owed to 14 firemen. 

The city proposed to pay for the cost by selling the same amount worth in emergency notes, one of two ways to fund the terminal leave, which is a retirement benefit based upon number of years of service. The ordinance had been on the agenda of the last meeting as well.

Issuing the notes means that the cost can be spread out over five years, the mayor said.

"Spreading the cost out in this way protects taxpayers from the unfair burden that would otherwise result when, as this year, an exceptionally large number of retirements occur in one year," said Zimmer in a prepared statement on Thursday night.

As far as the decision by council members Theresa Castellano, Beth Mason, Mike Russo and Tim Occhipinti — all critics of Zimmer — not to attend Thursday's meeting, the mayor said the responsibility to take care of the cost is now in the council's hands.

"Council Members Castellano, Mason, Occhipinti, and Russo have indicated that they believe that the decision not to burden taxpayers unnecessarily this year causes the budget to be 'underfunded,'" Zimmer said. "While this is not correct, the budget is now in the hands of the City Council, and it is within their power to include the amounts in full in this year's budget. Doing so will require an otherwise unnecessary increase in the tax levy."

The four minority council members blamed the administration of fiscal mismanagement.

"Every time the administration has something it wants to hide from the public a special meeting is called," said Castellano in a join press release with her council colleagues on Thursday. "This is not the open and transparent government that Mayor Zimmer promised residents."

Zimmer said that the terminal pay for the firemen can be adopted into the budget as well, which is a change that will have to be made to the budget by the council.

"The budget is in the Council’s hands," Zimmer said, "and it is their responsibility to fully fund it."