RESOLUTION NO. 11470
A RESOLUTION OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF
THE CITY OF ORANGE ESTABLISHING A
LETTER OF UNDERSTANDING BETWEEN
THE CITY OF ORANGE AND THE ORANGE
CITY FIRE MANAGEMENT A SSOCIATION
EFFECTIVE JULY 1, 202 3, THROUGH JUNE
30, 2026
WHEREAS, the City of Orange (“City”) and the Orange City Fire Management Association (“Association”) have met and conferred in accordance with the requirements of the Meyers-Milias-Brown Act; and
WHEREAS, the City and the Association have reached agreement on wages, salaries, and other terms and conditions of employment effective July 1, 202 3, through June 30, 20 26; and
WHEREAS, the City Council of the City of Orange has consulted with the City Manager and Human Resources Director concerning the proposed employment terms contained in the attached Letter of Understanding.
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED by the City Council of the City of Orange that the attached Letter of Understanding is approved and incorporated by reference as Exhibit “A”.
ADOPTED this ____ day of ____________________, 2023
Daniel R. Slater, Mayor, City of Orange
ATTEST:
Pamela Coleman, City Clerk, City of Orange
2 STATE OF CALIFORNIA )
COUNTY OF ORANGE )
CITY OF ORANGE )
I, PAMELA COLEMAN, City Clerk of the City of Orange, California, do hereby certify that the foregoing Resolution was duly and regularly adopted by the City Council of the City of Orange at a regular meeting thereof held on the day of , 2023 by the following vote:
AYES: COUNCILMEMBERS:
NOES: COUNCILMEMBERS:
ABSENT: COUNCILMEMBERS:
ABSTAIN: COUNCILMEMBERS:
Pamela Coleman, City Clerk, City of Orange
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EXHIBIT “A”
A LETTER OF UNDERSTANDING
BETWEEN THE CITY OF ORANGE AND THE
ORANGE CITY FIRE MANAGEMENT ASSOCIATION
EFFECTIVE JULY 1, 2023, THROUGH JUNE 30, 2026
This Letter of Understanding (“LOU”) is entered into by and between the City of Orange (“City”) and the Orange City Fire Management Association (“Association”), collectively the “Parties”.
Recitals
A. The City and the Association hereby enter into this LOU effective July 1, 2023.
B. The Parties agree to incorporate the language addressed in this LOU into a new Memorandum of Understanding (“New MOU”), once the Parties review and concur on any and all language changes that will become part of the New MOU. Thereafter, a New MOU document will be presented to the City Council at a future meeting for its approval.
C. All references to the “MOU” in this LOU shall be to that Memorandum of Understanding by and between the City and Association adopted by Resolution No. 11275 by the City Council on November 10, 2020. Except as to those provisions which expressly expired and/or those provisions expressly addressed by this LOU, the terms and conditions of the MOU remain operative until the New MOU is approved and adopted.
Agreement
1. Term and Effective Date.
The term of this LOU shall be from July 1, 20 23, through June 30, 2026, and will become effective upon ratification by the Association membership and approval of the City Council.
2. Salary (Appendix “A”).
Modify Article III, Sections 1 and 2 as follows:
• Effective the pay periods beginning June 18, 2023 , and June 30, 2024, a base salary increase of 5.0% shall be granted for members.
• Effective the pay period beginning June 29, 2025, a base salary increase of 2.0% shall be granted for members.
3. Longevity Pay.
Modify Article III, Section 11 to eliminate 15 years of service tier, and amend monthly pay for 20 and 25 years of service tiers as follows:
A-2
Effective Date 15 Years of
Service
20 Years
of Service
25 Years
of Service
Current $200.00 $400.00 $600.00
June 18, 2023 -- $550.00 $750.00
4. Health Benefits.
• Modify Article VI, Section 1(A) to increase the City’s monthly contribution as follows:
Effective Dates Monthly Contribution
Current $1,955.00
January 1, 2024 $2,005.00
January 1, 2025 $2,055.00
January 1, 2026 $2,105.00
• Modify Article VI, Section 1( D) to state that effective June 18, 2023, the cash in lieu medical waiver amount of $500.00 per month will remain fixed indefinitely. In the case of future promotional hires from Fire Local 2384 to the Association, the waiver amount will be $500.00 per month irrespective of the waiver amount that Fire Local 2384 employees are receiving under their MOU. This implies that individuals who have a higher waiver amount in Fire Local 2384 will not be able to retain it and will instead default to the $500.00 per month waiver amount under the Association. Existing Association members who waive medical will continue to be capped at the $1,955.00 per month amount.
5. Educational Incentive Program.
Modify Article VII, Section 3 to maintain monthly incentive for Associate degree, and amend Bachelor and Master degree premiums as follows:
Education
Level
Current Monthly
Incentive
Proposed Monthly
Incentive
AA/AS $200.00 $200.00
BA/BS $400.00 $550.00
MA/MS $600.00 $750.00
6. California Incident Command Certification System (CICCS).
Modify Article VII, Section 6 to increase certification premium from $100.00 to $200.00 per month.
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7. Leaves of Absence/Sick Leave Usage – Service Retirement.
Modify Article XI, Section 5(H) to allow for eligible sick leave hours to be placed into an employee’s Retirement Health Savings Plan as follows:
Upon retiring from City service and entering CalPERS as a Retired Annuitant, an employee with:
A minimum of twenty (20) years of continuous service to the City shall receive pay for sixty percent (60%) of all accrued and unused sick leave hours; and
A minimum of twenty-five (25) years of continuous service to the City shall receive pay for seventy percent (70%) of all accrued and unused sick leave hours.
Employees hired/promoted into Association after June 18, 2023 , and retire from City service, enter CalPERS as a Retired Annuitant, with a minimum of five (5) years of continuous service to the City shall receive pay for fifty percent (50%) of all accrued and unused sick leave hours.
8. Residency Requirement.
Incorporate new Article into MOU as follows:
All Association personnel hired by the Orange City Fire Department after June 25, 2023, following approval and adoption of this Agreement, shall be a permanent and full -time resident of the State of California and reside no further than one hundred (100) road miles from Fire Headquarters. This presumes that a substantial portion of that distance will be traveled at freeway speed and that per sonnel can report to Fire Headquarters within ninety (90) minutes of the request for call back. Employees hired before June 25, 2023 , with continuous City of Orange employment (with no break in service) are exempt.
9. Limited Reopener.
Incorporate new Article into MOU as follows:
The City can reopen Article III (Salaries) and/or Article X, Section 3 (Vacation Cash Out) of the MOU for negotiations during the 2023/2024 or 2024/2025 fiscal years through a limited reopener subject to the requirements set forth in this Article. In order for the City to invoke this limited reopener, the following elements must be met:
1) There must be a fiscal year -over-year (from 2021/2022 to 2022/2023, or, from 2022/2023 to 2023/2024) decrease in net sales tax revenue received by the City greater than ten percent (10%), and;
2) The City must provide written notice of its request and intent to reopen MOU negotiations for this limited purpose to the Association during the following dates:
December 15, 2023 , through January 15, 2024, or, December 15, 2024 , through January 15, 2025.
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Upon receipt of such timely request, the Parties agree to meet and confer in good faith on the Article(s) requested for reopening. Any changes to the MOU arising out of this limited reopener shall be by mutual written agreement. It is the expressed intent of the Parties that the language pertaining to this limited reopener is included in the current MOU only and expires June 30, 2026. Any inclusion of a like or similar Article in future MOUs will be subject to the meet and confer process.
10. Employer-Employee Labor Relations Resolution.
Parties have met and discussed Employer –Employee Labor Relations Resolution which shall be brought forward to City Council at a future date once all City bargaining groups have had an opportunity to review.
11. Language Cleanup.
Parties have agreed to incorporate several language changes into the New MOU to further clarify existing MOU provisions. There is no additional fiscal impact for these language changes.
12. Status of MOU.
Except as specifically provided and amended herein, the terms and conditions of the MOU shall govern the provisions of wages, salaries, and other benefits for all covered employees.
This LOU shall not be interpreted to extend and/or limit any other rights, benefits, or compensation of either party except as specifically provided herein, and both this LOU and the New MOU shall expire on June 30, 2026.
City of Orange Orange City Fire Management Association
Dated: Dated:
By: By:
Monica Espinoza, Human Resources Director Robert J. Stefano, President
APPROVED AS TO FORM:
Mary E. Binning, City Attorney
Appendix A-1
APPENDIX A
ORANGE CITY FIRE MANAGEMENT ASSOCIATION
MONTHLY SALARY RANGES
EFFECTIVE JUNE 19, 2022
2.0% Across the Board Salary Increase
CLASSIFICATION TITLE RANGE STEP
A
STEP
B
STEP
C
STEP
D
STEP
E
STEP
F
Fire Battalion Chief 694.5 11390 11972 12581 13224 13898 14606
EFFECTIVE JUNE 18, 2023
5.0% Across the Board Salary Increase
CLASSIFICATION TITLE RANGE STEP
A
STEP
B
STEP
C
STEP
D
STEP
E
STEP
F
Fire Battalion Chief 704.5 11972 12585 13224 13900 14609 15353
EFFECTIVE JUNE 30, 2024
5.0% Across the Board Salary Increase
CLASSIFICATION TITLE RANGE STEP
A
STEP
B
STEP
C
STEP
D
STEP
E
STEP
F
Fire Battalion Chief 714.5 12585 13228 13901 14611 15356 16139
EFFECTIVE JUNE 29, 2025
2.0% Across the Board Salary Increase
CLASSIFICATION TITLE RANGE STEP
A
STEP
B
STEP
C
STEP
D
STEP
E
STEP
F
Fire Battalion Chief 718.5 12838 13495 14181 14905 15665 16464