By Sara Quam
The Luverne City Council talked budget during its Tuesday night meeting. The levy has to be set mid-September, so now is the time for public input and requests.
The Luverne Fire Department was represented at the meeting to request an increase in its pension contribution.
Now, firefighters get $1,700 a year in a pension fund that they qualify for only after 20 years of service and at the age of 50 or older. The city of Luverne pays 75 percent of that cost, with townships picking up the rest.
The request is to increase the annual pension contribution to $2,100 a year. Last year there was no increase, and the hourly wage hasn't been increased from $6 an hour for many years.
Council members said they would like to increase the pension to make it similar to other departments of this size as a measure of gratitude for service.
However, the state has imposed levy limits this year, and that puts the city in a budget crunch.
The proposed budget the city is reviewing now has the pension amount at $1,900, which is a smaller increase than the department is asking for. That budgeted amount is about $65,000 total.
Councilman Keith Erickson said he is in favor of keeping the budget as it is and making up the rest of what the firefighters want in the council's contingency fund.
Jim Kirchhofer said he would prefer to meet the request over two years. David Hauge said the council should wait a week and vote on it at next week's council meeting, which the council ultimately decided to do.
One of the reasons the fire department wants an increased pension is for an incentive for new firefighters to join. Right now there are no openings, but the average age of firefighters is more than 40 with a few retiring this year.
The department does fund-raising and grant writing to keep the cityÕs costs down wherever possible.