Contract Stalemate Ends in Houston after Eight Years

Mar. 14—It will cost Houston taxpayers more than $650 million to settle City Hall's long-running contract stalemate with the firefighters union, according to terms of a deal released Thursday.

Mayor John Whitmire and the Houston Professional Fire Fighters Association Local 341 announced they signed a deal to end the dispute, which has dominated Houston's municipal politics for nearly a decade, playing out in court battles and at the ballot box.

The framework would use $650 million in back pay to address the eight years the firefighters worked without a contract, and then give them up to 34% raises over the next five years. That means the total cost will be higher, though City Hall officials did not release a full estimate or their plans to fund it.

The plan still requires sign-off from the state district judge overseeing the court case that firefighters filed against the city in 2017. The two sides said they plan to outline the settlement for the court on Monday.

Firefighters have worked without a deal since the most recent pact expired in 2016. They were never able to agree to a contract under Mayor Sylvester Turner's administration, and they went years without raises. However, Turner used federal COVID-19 funding to give them 18% pay hikes from 2021 through 2023.

The new deal would give the biggest pay bump in decades for Houston's firefighters, who have long been underpaid compared to their counterparts in other Texas cities.

The hefty price tag, though, will add another blow to an already strained financial outlook at City Hall. The city likely will have to commit tens of millions of dollars per year to pay off the bond used to finance the plan, while also coming up with budget funds to pay for significant raises over the next five years.

Here are the details of the deal released Thursday:

— Firefighters would collectively receive $650 million in back pay, dating back to 2017. The city would pay for that with a judgment bond, a court-ordered plan that would allow the city to spread the cost over decades. The firefighters will receive the money in lump-sum payments.

— The deal would cement the 18% raises firefighters received from the Turner administration, building off that base pay amount. When Turner announced that plan, he said it would cost $115.3 million over the three-year span, bringing a first-year firefighter's salary from $43,528 per year to $51,000. The newest firefighters make about $55,300 in Austin and $67,000 in Dallas, according to budget data from those cities.

— Firefighters also would get a 10% base pay hike on July 1, with another possible 24% in raises over the life of a five-year contract. The two sides did not disclose how much those raises would cost the city or how the Whitmire administration plans to pay for them.

Finance Director Melissa Dubowski recently sounded the alarm about Houston's looming financial challenges. The city is set to face a budgetary gap of $160 million in the next fiscal year starting this July, she told City Council earlier this month. This does not include the costs of the firefighters deal.

To cope with the projected shortfall, Whitmire has asked all departments, excluding police and fire, to identify potential 5% budget cuts for the coming fiscal year. The two departments combined currently make up about half of the city's operating budget, which is funded primarily by property and sales taxes. City Hall typically conducts budget hearings in May and adopts a spending plan in June.

The administration also may ask voters to adjust Houston's property tax cap to allow for more public safety spending, Dubowski said then.

Kelly Dowe, who served as Houston's finance director and chief financial officer under former Mayors Annise Parker and Sylvester Turner, said he is surprised at the lack of a detailed financing plan in the announcement, including how the city might streamline its current fire budget to cover some of the costs.

"Given the mayor ran on fiscal responsibility and the substantial saving opportunities in the fire department, I'm going to assume the plan does not just ask citizens to fund this by tax increases and debt," Dowe said.

City Hall and Local 341 hailed the end of the long-running and bitter dispute. Whitmire said he is proud to deliver on a promise he made during the campaign.

"An agreement of this nature is absolutely necessary to recruit and retain firefighters in the quality and numbers needed to serve the largest city in Texas," the mayor said in a statement. "I want to reiterate that it helps avoid further unnecessary litigation costs, the uncertainty of multiple decisions by a court or an arbitration panel, and allows us to move forward together."

Marty Lancton, the president of Local 341, said the agreement is unlike any the firefighters have seen before.

"It shows the impact of Mayor John Whitmire's leadership and cooperation. The victory belongs to every Houston firefighter who has sacrificed for the last eight years," said Lancton. "Let us remember the challenges we've overcome and the unity that has brought us to this resolution. Today, we stand on the brink of a new chapter that honors our hard work and dedication and ensures a brighter future for all of our brothers and sisters and their families."

Houston firefighters experienced the lowest level of job satisfaction out of all city departments, according to a 2023 survey of around 7,000 municipal workers obtained by the Houston Landing through a records request.

Sixty-one percent of surveyed firefighters reported job dissatisfaction, significantly surpassing the citywide average of 25% and more than quadrupling the national benchmark for municipal employees of 14%. Notably, only 192 firefighters, or 5% of the department staff, responded to the survey request.

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