We, the Butler City Firefighters, want to clarify misinformation that has appeared in recent opinion articles attacking our department.

Although the department does not currently have a chief, it is running more efficiently than ever. We would like to thank City Council Safety Director Kathy Kline for stepping up and delegating the duties to the department officers accordingly. With the retirement of Capt. Brian Mazzanti, whose position contractually does not need to be replaced, and the untimely retirement of Chief Nick Ban, the city is set to save about $162,000 in salary and benefits over the next year.

The claims of an illegal settlement are within legal requirements of our current collective bargaining agreement (CBA), which is set to expire Dec. 31, 2017.

Mayor Tom Donaldson’s refusal to sign the settlement agreement pertaining to the Civil Service Rules and Regulations grievance appears vindictive and currently renders that agreement null and void.

Also, the mayor’s refusal to vote on the promotions to fill the vacancies of captain and lieutenant is unjust and does not follow his oath of office as mayor.

Since 1992 we have lost six positions, whereas the police have not lost any despite no minimum staffing requirements. In 1992, the firefighters took pay freezes to save the positions of then-patrolmen Ron Brown and Dave Adam while the police union fought in arbitration for wage increases.

In 2011, both the fire and police departments were asked to change health insurance coverage mid contracts. The BBF agreed, saving the city $30,000.

Regarding our staffing, the current National Fire Protection Agency standards along with Occupational Safety and Health Administration guidelines require a four-man minimum to meet the Two-In, Two-Out Rule. The city has been aware of the increase in overtime costs due to its reduction in our manpower and a nonfunctioning part-time program which has been in our contract since 1995.

We have been supportive of the part-time program in attempts to reduce overtime costs. However, this program has been poorly run and retention of these employees has failed. As a cost-saving measure we have gone to great lengths to avoid arbitration hearings, rather choosing to come to mutual agreements with the city.

For every-24 hour shift a firefighter works, he is only paid for 16 hours, creating a cost savings for the city.

The state mandated Third Class City Code renders the 24 hour shifts non-negotiable. Notably, the police department budget increased by $86,000 in 2016, while the fire department only increased by $4,100.

Although trendy in the current political arena, the idea of pension reform would only cause further distress for the city. The city receives Act 205 monies from Pennsylvania — monies collected by the state from insurance companies outside of Pennsylvania. This money can only be used for pension purposes, and has routinely been used to satisfy the Minimum Municipal Obligation (MMO) of the three pension funds.

The Act 205 money received yearly has outpaced the yearly MMO, percentage wise, as determined by an independent study. As of the last report, the fire pension is funded at 109.3 percent; police pension at 102.8 percent; and nonuniformed employees at 114.6 percent. Butler City’s pension funds are one of the very few in Pennsylvania this well-funded. Refer to perc.pa.gov.

Both studies the mayor references, although he only focused on the fire department, are public knowledge. What the mayor leaves out in his statements is the amount of options in those studies for the city to generate nontax revenues within our department.

This department has made multiple attempts to present council with ideas for nontax revenues to supplement our budget. Again, we have had part-time language in our CBAs since 1995. And although the program has been attempted twice within recent years, it has been run poorly.

Unfortunately, working a part-time job in addition to full-time employment is common practice in today’s society. Please note that numerous other city employees are additionally employed part-time and are unavailable to respond if needed. So why single the fire department out?

We also need to refer to an article in which the assumption was made that only three firefighters live within the city. This information is wrong. More than a third of the employees of the department own homes and live within the city. And all live within contractual requirements.

This is contrasted by the fact that no city police officers live within the municipality by which they are employed. Our intent is not to create a “police versus fire department,” but rather to defend ourselves against recent egregious allegations made by the mayor toward our brotherhood.

The city fire department has a wonderful working relationship with our surrounding volunteer departments. However, it must be remembered that those departments are all volunteers and a response of any kind cannot be guaranteed.

As reported in many recent news stories, the number of volunteer firefighters has dropped drastically statewide, creating struggles with manpower.

Butler has a full-time fire department ready at any moment to protect and serve the citizens and their loved ones, who pay taxes for this service. Why would the mayor wish to have anything less for the people of Butler? Wasn’t one of his election platforms public safety?

The city firefighters’ main concern is not financial or personal gain. It is, and has always been, the safety and well-being of the citizens who reside in the City of Butler. This cannot be stressed enough.

We deeply appreciate the unwavering support of those we are dedicated to serve.

James Kaufman is the president of IAFF Local 114 representing Butler City Fire Fighters.