Long-time Raleigh resident and Midtown CAC Chair Larry Helfant emailed the following comments to the City Council on April 24 , 2024:
City Council, Mayor and staff,
If you recall, I sent you a presentation from the Fireman Protective Association after our March CAC meeting. This month, we followed up the recent WRAL feature on the RPD request for fair compensation.
Quite frankly, it was embarrassing to listen to both Fire and RPD ask for additional compensation just to stay competitive with neighboring communities. Raleigh has the best training facilities in the area but we suffer from retaining personnel because, although we are the Capital City, we don’t provide fair compensation or benefits. How can a City grow when they can’t guarantee the residents safety.
The time for action is now. The RPD has done their homework and provided area comparisons. They do not have to wait another year for an expensive compensation study. Firemen are asking for a retirement supplement to fill those years between service retirement and social security eligibility. Both are respectable asks, with a low budget impact. Both services are well below the enrollment needed for a first class city.
The City has an income bonus this year due to increased real estate appraisals. While I recognize we are budget neutral, let’s build the requested benefits into the budget now, not later. Your residents deserve it and the RPD and Fire Service have certainly earned it. Please build both requests into the 2024 / 2025 budget cycle.
The RPD presentation is appended. I hope to see this discussion in the budget agenda before the June public hearing.
Thank you,
Larry Helfant
Click on image to view RPD presentation
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