Jacksonville Mayor unveils reform retirement initiative for fire department employees

JACKSONVILLE, Fla.-- Mayor Alvin Brown unveiled his retirement reform initiative for Fire Department employees in the Police and Fire Pension Fund.

Mayor Brown shared his plan at a meeting with the Jacksonville Association of Fire Fighters.

The Mayor has pushed to reform the city's Police and Fire Pension fund.

The fund has been underfunded for years, and the investments the fund makes does not cover the expenses.

Mayor Brown said, "our current retirement system is no longer sustainable. It is broken and we have to fix it so we can protect the long-term economic security of public safety employees while also protecting taxpayers."

Mayor Brown is proposing benefit changes that would apply to all new employees and many current employees.

His proposal will not affect any former City of Jacksonville employees who are already retired or any current employees who are already eligible for retirement.

The city has new contracts with all the unions, but retirement plans were not covered in those contracts.

Reforms to the pension fund, must be approved by the City Council.