Ten city firefighters agree to buyout

YOUNGSTOWN — Ten senior members of the fire department, some making as much as $71,030 a year in base pay, are taking an early-retirement/resignation buyout that will see them replaced by entry-level firefighters, who’ll earn $24,000 in base pay in their first year.

The buyout is designed to reduce employee costs for a cash-strapped city that expects to end this year with a deficit of about $1 million.

The buyout would save the city about $1,425,000 over five years, beginning in 2010, said Fire Chief John O’Neill. The savings is about $315,000 for 2010, $305,000 for 2011, $285,000 for 2012, $270,000 for 2013 and $250,000 for 2014, he said.

The 10 firefighters taking the buyout have until next Monday to change their mind. But it’s unlikely any of them will do that, said O’Neill and David Cook, president of the International Association of Fire Fighters Local 312, which represents the 138 current members of the city’s fire department.

Of the 10 taking the buyout, 3 are battalion captains earning $71,030 in annual base salary, 5 are captains with annual base salaries of $62,072, and 2 are lieutenants with annual base salaries of $57,902, O’Neill said.

They will be off the city’s payroll by the end of this month, Youngstown Mayor Jay Williams said.

The buyout for those taking it is a year’s base salary paid in five equal installments, beginning in April 2010.

For the complete story, read Wednesday’s Vindicator or Vindy.com