City Council Agenda Report Meeting Date: September 15, 2026 TO: City Council
FROM: Barbara Martin, Administrative Services Director
RE: Amending the City of Chico and International Association of Fire Fighters’ Memorandum of Understanding effective July 1, 2021 through June 30, 2027, regarding CTO for Reimbursable Response.
REPORT IN BRIEF:
Upon approval, this item amends Sections 2.4 and 2.6 of the City of Chico and International Association of Fire Fighters (“IAFF”) Memorandum of Understanding (“MOU”) through the attached Side Letter Agreement to establish compensating time off (“CTO”) provisions for employees assigned to emergency incidents or prepositioned for emergency response outside of City jurisdiction on a reimbursable response.
RECOMMENDATION:
The Administrative Services Director recommends approval of the IAFF Side Letter Agreement as submitted.
FISCAL IMPACT: Budgeted: Yes Supplemental Required: No
DISCUSSION:
Section 1.10 of the IAFF Memorandum of Understanding provides for a Letter Agreement for Variation of Provisions, which allows the City and Union to vary from strict adherence to the provisions agreed upon in the MOU when it is to the mutual benefit of the City and Union to do so. Additionally, pursuant to the Meet and Confer provisions within Section 2R.72.250 of the Chico Municipal Code, when the meet and confer process is concluded between the City and a recognized employee organization, all agreed-upon matters shall be incorporated in a written memorandum of understanding and signed by the City and bargaining representative. Said memorandum of understanding shall be submitted to the City Council for determination and implementation on matters over which the Council has authority. A memorandum of understanding shall not be binding on the City or recognized employee organization until approved by the City Council.
The Side Letter Agreement concludes the recent meet-and-confer process and amends Sections 2.4 and 2.6 of the IAFF MOU to establish compensating time off provisions for qualifying emergency response assignments outside of City jurisdiction. The Side Letter Agreement provides for portal-to-portal compensation and allows qualifying overtime to be accrued as CTO at one and one-half hours for each hour of overtime worked. The Side Letter Agreement is effective September 6, 2026, upon approval by the City Council.
ATTACHMENTS:
Exhibit A – IAFF Side Letter Agreement
SIDE LETTER AGREEMENT
BETWEEN CITY OF CHICO AND INTERNATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF FIRE FIGHTERS
REGARDING CTO FOR REIMBURSABLE RESPONSE
Pursuant to the provisions of the Meyers-Milias-Brown Act (“MMBA”) and Subarticle
1.10, entitled “Letter Agreement for Variation of Provisions” of the Memorandum of Understanding between the City of Chico (“City”) and International Association of Fire Fighters (“IAFF”) effective July 1, 2021 through June 30, 2025 (“2022 MOU-IAFF”) and the Side Letter Agreement regarding Contract Reopener extending the term of the 2022 MOU to June 30, 2027, this Side Letter Agreement is entered into on September 15, 2026, between the City and the IAFF (“Side Letter Agreement”) as an amendment to the 2022 MOU-IAFF. It is understood and agreed that the specific provisions contained in this Side Letter Agreement shall supersede any previous agreements, whether oral and/or written, regarding the matters contained herein. Except as provided herein, all wages, hours and other terms and conditions of employment presently enjoyed by IAFF in the 2022 MOU-IAFF shall remain in full force and effect.
Therefore, effective September 6, 2026, the City and the Union agree to amend Section 2.4 and
2.6, as follows:
2.6 PAY FOR EMERGENCY INCIDENTS/REIMBURSABLE RESPONSE. Employees who, in the course of their employment, are away from their official duty station and assigned to an emergency incident outside of City jurisdiction or pre-positioned for an emergency response outside of City jurisdiction, shall be compensated on a portal to portal basis. Portal to portal shall be defined as beginning at the time of dispatch to the return to jurisdiction when equipment and personnel are in service and available for City response. Employees on such assignments shall be compensated for overtime pursuant to Section 2.4, entitled "Overtime Pay".
2.4 OVERTIME PAY.
C. Compensating Time Off in Lieu of Overtime Payment. Employees working overtime may accrue Compensating Time Off (CTO) in lieu of overtime payment, and may utilize such CTO, in accordance with the following conditions and provisions:
1. Such CTO shall be accrued at the rate of one and one-half hours for each hour of overtime worked.
2. The maximum amount of CTO that may be accrued and utilized shall be limited to two hundred and forty (240) hours at any given time. Approval for use of CTO shall be given by Fire Chief, or designee, subject to the same process established for scheduling vacation and in a manner consistent with requirements of FLSA.
3. Such CTO shall be utilized or paid in accordance with one or both of the following:
a. CTO is encouraged to be utilized or paid for within the calendar year in which it was earned. By December 15th of each year, employees may request payment for part or all of unused CTO accrued in the following year upon written request to the Finance Department. When requested, such payment shall be made on the Employee's first paycheck in December of the following Calendar year. Payment for such hours will be made at the regular Pay rate in effect at the time of payment.
b. CTO accrued for reimbursable response under Section 2.6 Pay For Emergency Incidents/Reimbursable Response must be utilized in accordance with all requirements set forth in Section 2.4.C.3.a above are applicable to unused CTO accrual payment.
4. Approval for use of CTO shall be given by the Fire Chief or a designee in accordance with one or both of the following:
a. At the beginning of the work shift during which such CTO would be used after a determination has been made that there are sufficient on-duty Employees available to cover such work shift.
b. Scheduled in advance, in a manner similar to the scheduling of vacation, and subject to the same restrictions and conditions which exist on the scheduling of vacation.
This side letter agreement shall remain in effect until June 30, 2027. Any amendments or modifications to this Side Letter Agreement shall be in writing, signed and dated by both parties.
Signed and dated as follows:
For International Association of Fire Fighters: For the City of Chico:
Daniel Hart, President (Date) Barbara Martin, (Date)
Director of Administrative Services
Gillian Haen, City Manager (Date)
Approved As To Form And Content:
Ryan Jones, City Attorney* (Date)
*Pursuant to The Charter of the City of
Chico, Section 906 (D)