Jacksonville employees won’t get pensions, but elected leaders will

April 29--Jacksonville City Council members applauded last week as Mayor Lenny Curry declared that closing the city's three pension plans to new hires means "we are out of the pension business."

But even with enactment of that historic change, one small but powerful group of future city employees will still be able to enroll in pension plans.

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The mayor, City Council members, sheriff, clerk of courts, tax collector, property appraiser and supervisor of elections are all in the Florida Retirement System, which is separate from the three city-managed pension plans that are closing to future hires on Sept. 30.

Changing that arrangement with the Florida Retirement System would require an act of the state Legislature, according to the city's Office of General Counsel.

During collective bargaining sessions earlier this year, unions pushed for moving all future city workers into the Florida Retirement System, where participants have a choice between enrolling in pension plans or 401(k) style investment accounts.

But Curry ruled out that option at the start of collective bargaining talks. Unions eventually agreed to labor agreements that say employees hired after Sept. 30 will get investment accounts for their retirement benefits.

Steve Zona, president of the local Fraternal Order of Police, said current elected officeholders should be able to keep pensions "like they were promised," but people elected to those offices in the future should reject pensions and opt instead for the investment accounts in the Florida Retirement System.

"If it is good enough for the employees of the city of Jacksonville, then it should be good enough for their elected leaders," Zona said. "Unless, of course, they want to introduce and pass new legislation returning pensions for public safety workers in Jacksonville."

Randy Wyse, president of the International Association of Fire Fighters, said he's fine with the elected officials continuing to have a choice between pension plans and investment accounts in the Florida Retirement System.

"For those people, that's a great option and I think they ought to have that," Wyse said.

He said he remains convinced other city employees should likewise have the same flexibility.

"The options they have now are good in the Florida Retirement System, and us not having that option is going to cause some serious, serious issues in the future as it relates to retention and recruitment," Wyse said.

Curry and Sheriff Mike Williams have said the city's investment accounts will be generous enough to attract and retain public safety employees.

When Curry took office in July 2015, he rejected participation in both the pension plan and the 401(k) style investment account offered by the Florida Retirement System, fulfilling a campaign pledge to forego those retirement benefits.

Jacksonville's elected leaders used to be in the General Employee Pension Plan, but in 2004, City Council authorized moving them into the Florida Retirement System's "elected officer class" after a state attorney general opinion determined those office-holders are eligible for FRS under state law.

City General Counsel Jason Gabriel said that when local government decides to participate in the FRS for any particular class of employees, as it did in 2004 for elected officials, that decision is irrevocable unless the state Legislature agrees to makes the change.

David Bauerlein: (904) 359-4581

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