In a settlement offer likely to be seen as a provocation by New Orleans firefighters, the Mayor Mitch Landrieu proposed Wednesday a $42.25 million plan that would resolve years of litigation and impose a painful overhaul of the firefighters’ pension system, reports nola.com.
The plan is contingent on the approval a property tax increase by voters in a March 2016 election.
Councilwoman Stacy Head is sponsoring the settlement proposal on Landrieu’s behalf. Neither Head’s office, nor Landrieu’s administration, were immediately available to comment on the proposal.
The $42.25 million price tag amounts to about a quarter of the $168 million the firefighters’ union claim is owed to its members and their pension plan.
The proposal comes on the heels of an ultimatum from Orleans Civil District Judge Kern Reese, who told the Landrieu administration it had until Friday (Aug. 21) to come back with a plan, approved by the City Council, to pay a $75 million judgement stemming from the city’s failure to pay so-called longevity raises mandated by the state. Landrieu agreed to the payment in a court-sanctioned settlement known as a consent judgment.
The remaining portion of the firefighters’ $168 million claim comes from interest due on the $75 million judgement and $26 million outstanding from a separate legal battle. In the latter case, a judge ordered Landrieu to make up for payments the city failed to make into the Fire Fighters Pension and Relief Fund during the tail end of former mayor Ray Nagin’s term and the first years of Landrieu’s tenure in office.
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