Ohio House approves ‘unfunded mandate’ pension boost for police, firefighters

Dayton, Springfield and other southwest Ohio governments oppose measure
ajc.com

Ohio police and firefighters took one step closer to bolstering their pension Wednesday following the Ohio House’s passage of a bill that would significantly raise local government’s contributions to the public Ohio Police and Fire Pension fund over the next six years.

Wednesday’s 66-25 vote on House Bill 296 in the Ohio House is a thorn for Dayton, Springfield and local governments across the region and state who will have to foot the bill.

On the other hand, it’s a celebrated victory for police and fire unions who have been advocating additional pension security following a series of cost-cutting measures in the past decade or so shouldered by the pension’s more-than 50,000 members.

H.B. 296 now heads to the Ohio Senate, which is set to further consider the measure. Senate President Matt Huffman, R-Lima, told reporters Wednesday that it would be “extraordinarily difficult” to get done before the legislative term ends, and all unfinished business expires, at the end of this year.

Today, local governments contribute amounts equal to 24% of the pay of their firefighters and 19.5% of the pay of their police force. If H.B. 296 goes into effect, it would raise local governments’ contributions for police to 24%, matching that of firefighters and theoretically increasing the pension’s solvency.

It would be the first time Ohio has raised employer contributions to the fund since 1986.

Shortly after the vote, the Ohio Mayors Alliance released a statement reiterating the bipartisan organization’s concerns with the fiscal implications of the bill.

“Unless local governments raise taxes, and absent any state support to offset this significant unfunded mandate, communities across Ohio will have $81.9 million less each year to hire more police officers, increase wages for first responders, and support the current public safety needs of our cities,” the statement read.

Locally, Dayton Mayor Jeffrey Mims told this outlet that it would cost the city at least $2.6 million a year to uphold their end of the mandate. Mims said the city would have to look at cuts elsewhere in the budget in order to afford the obligation unless the state pitched in.

Democrats tried to strike a balance between pension members and local governments by offering an amendments to both partially restore Ohio’s local government fund — a pot of funds distributed to cities and townships based on need — to prior levels, and a proposal to have the state kick in half of the increase local governments expect to face.

Toledo-area Rep. Josh Williams, R-Sylvania, proposed an amendment to take 15% of state revenue raised from recreational marijuana sales to help local governments fund the initiative.

Rep. Bill Seitz, R-Cincinnati, argued on the House floor that the state ought not to get into the business of partially funding public pensions and that, by approving any of the amendments, the state would set a precedent that would eventually lead other pensions to seek state funds to bolster their pensions.

All three amendments were turned down, though Williams’ garnered the most support.

H.B. 296, if passed by the Senate, would also slightly raise pension members’ own contribution rate from 12.25% of their pay to 12.5% beginning in 2030.

David Graham, communications director for the Ohio Police and Fire Pension fund, told the Dayton Daily News that the fund could pay off all its liabilities within 29.8 years, but he said that figure inched closer to the state’s maximum 30-year limit over the past year. In 2023, the fund could pay off its liabilities within 26.7 years.

Members of the pension become eligible for standard retirement once they hit 25 years of service and are at least 48 years of age, though the retirement age for younger pension members was raised to 52 years old. Pension members at a maximum can receive pension payments equaling of 72% of their average annual salary.

Note: This story will be updated as more information becomes available.


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Avery Kreemer can be reached at 614-981-1422, on X, via email, or you can drop him a comment/tip with the survey below.

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