By COLE REIF
Great Bend Post
As the Great Bend City Council tries to find the answers for improving the retirement plans for the fire and police departments, the board has heard informative and some emotional stories from fire and police employees.
The City of Great Bend is one of few municipalities in the state that does not make use of the Kansas Police & Fire (KP&F) pension plan. KP&F offers bolstered disability benefits and provides a guaranteed pension amount upon retirement.
Great Bend Police Lieutenant Heather Smith said this retirement
incentive is an investment for first responders and not just for the physical
part of the job, but the mental as well. Smith shared a story of responding to
a scene with a two-month-old baby that needed chest compressions.
"It's heartbreaking," said Smith. "These are things you will never get out of your mind. When that fireman calls me back and asks if I've heard anything about how the baby is doing, I tell him we lost her. That fireman still carries on and goes through his shift. He goes home to his family and looks at his baby of his own and says 'thank God I still have mine'."
KP&F members become retirement eligible at the age of 50 with 25 years of
service. Upon retirement, the worker is paid monthly for his or her entire life
based on KP&F’s formula.
What allows KP&F to be such a great policy for
employees is the employer contribution. Rates for 2023 would require the city
to contribute 22.86% of the member’s gross wages.
"This thing is huge and is an investment to believe in us and what we do," said Smith. "I may not qualify for it because I've already done 20 years. But for the young guys and gals...I'll take it for them. I want them to have something that I never had a chance at."
A .20% sales tax increase was approved in this past November’s election to go
toward improving the pension plan for first responders. The concern of
switching to the KP&F plan is funding the plan in the future if the sales
tax revenue does not cover the expense of rising city contributions.
The city will hear from ICMA, Great Bend’s current pension plan provider, at
the Dec. 20 meeting.
Listen below to comments from fire and police officers at last week's work session regarding public safety retirement.
Read a previous story on Great Bend's topic of public safety retirement by clicking the link below.
Big decision for Great Bend's police and fire retirement plans