Photo: The city’s largest fire and police unions have come out against the de Blasio administration’s proposed disability bill. Forum Photo by Michael V. Cusenza.
The largest city fire and police unions have blasted a bill proposed by the de Blasio administration that would increase the support that uniformed employees who are disabled on the job receive from the city.
Last week, Mayor Bill de Blasio unveiled the bill that proposes to change the way the disability benefit calculations are made in three ways: it will use the greater of the final average salary or the basic maximum salary as the basis for calculating benefits; it will remove the social security offset; and it will return to the previous formula for calculating cost of living adjustments.
The administration also released examples of how the proposal would play out: for a firefighter hurt on the job after two years, total tax-free disability benefits would increase by 65 percent; for a police officer seriously injured after five years of city work, total tax-free benefits in the first year would also rise by 65 percent; and in both cases, first year disability benefits would exceed their final average salary at the time of their injury.
“When it comes to our uniformed workers, safety is paramount. These brave public servants put their lives on the line each day to protect this city—and today we are letting them know: we are there for you too,” de Blasio said. “This bill will ensure every uniformed worker—especially those just starting out on the job—is protected by this city after a tragic injury.”
In a joint statement, Uniformed Firefighters Association President Steve Cassidy and Patrolmen’s Benevolent Association President Patrick Lynch ripped the plan as “unacceptable.”
“Late [Wednesday] we each received a brief phone call from First Deputy Mayor [Anthony] Shorris regarding the administration’s new plan for police officers and firefighters severely injured in the line of duty. Based upon that brief, last-minute phone conversation, the plan is unacceptable and continues to create a second-class citizen status for FDNY firefighters and NYPD police officers, who risk their lives every day to keep New Yorkers safe. Their plan leaves in place a two-tiered disability structure with some police officers and firefighters having adequate disability protections and others with inferior benefits.”
According to the administration, prior to July 2009, police officers and firefighters, and prior to April 2012, sanitation workers and correction officers, received a tax-free accidental disability retirement benefit equal to 75 percent of final salary, in addition to any Social Security benefit, including Social Security Disability Insurance.
Following state changes, all of the city’s uniformed forces pensions now receive a tax-free accidental disability retirement benefit of 50 percent of pay based on a three or five-year average (Tiers 3 and 6). This is offset by one-half of any benefits they receive from Social Security.
De Blasio has said that his proposal would count a higher salary in the disability package and remove the Social Security offset. The proposal also will replace Tiers 3 and 6 COLA with Tier 2 COLA.
The financial impact of the proposed changes, which require approval in Albany for passage, has been estimated by city actuarial staff to be $47 million through Fiscal Year 2019.
By Michael V. Cusenza michael@theforumnewsgroup.com
