ST. LOUIS — Mayor Tishaura O. Jones on Friday vetoed a bill aimed at restoring firefighter control over their pensions, saying it would unwind reforms that have helped stem once-soaring costs.
“We must support our firefighters through the dangerous, challenging work they do, but rolling back hard-won reforms to our pension system, increasing the burden on taxpayers, and diminishing local control is not the way to do so,” mayoral spokesman Nick Desideri wrote in a statement.
Alderman Tom Oldenburg, who represents the St. Louis Hills neighborhood and sponsored the bill, said he expected the veto and is working on an override.
He said Friday he had 19 votes to do so and was working on the one more he’ll need.
A decade ago, officials here said that firefighter pensions had grown so rich as to be unaffordable, and, if unchecked, would eventually bankrupt the city. They fought for months with the fire union and finally passed a suite of changes, cutting benefits and creating a new system governed by a board with a majority of City Hall appointees.
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The old system, governed by a firefighter-majority board, still administers benefits earned prior to the cuts. But it cannot take on any new members and will eventually fade out.
Oldenburg’s bill would let the old board govern both systems. He says the move would save money by eliminating bureaucracy and put workers in charge of managing their future.
City Budget Director Paul Payne has said the claims of cost savings are inaccurate and has argued the move is a prelude to running up benefits again.
But Oldenburg stressed that the pension board cannot increase benefits on its own. While it can spend money on actuarial studies needed to justify benefit increases, the increases themselves would have to be approved by aldermen and the mayor.
“This is a non-financial-impact bill,” he said.
Former Mayor Lyda Krewson vetoed a similar bill last year.
The city’s top budget man says a plan from aldermen could be the first step toward another crisis.