News12 is looking into a controversy surrounding salary errors for Jacksonville Firefighters. Here in Jacksonville, some firefighters grew concerned when the math on their paychecks wasn’t adding up, so they looked to the city for answers.
Earlier in the year, retired Battalion Chiefs Bert Reigelsperger and William Lee brought the paycheck issue to the city council during a meeting.
There had been some errors in the way pay was calculated, specifically overtime, holiday and vacation accruals.
Battalion Chief Lee tells me it was a pattern he traced all the way to 1997, and as a retired member of the fire department, these errors have impacted him even after his career has ended.
Retirement is figured by the highest four years of compensation, so any money we didn’t bring home, that affects our retirement moving forward for the rest of our lives.
When we spoke with a city official, they confirmed that there had been errors and the council approved backpay for the firefighters on staff over the last two years.
According to the Department of Labor, state law dictates unpaid wages can only be recovered for the two years before the claim is filed.
Myself, Battalion Chief Lee…we’ve been retired for 5 years, that doesn’t help us at all.
The city official tells us in total, 96 firefighters were reimbursed.
But Battalion Chief’s Reigelsperger and Lee say it isn’t fair to all the firefighters who have not been paid their dues.
I want to see the city step up and say, we screwed up, let’s make this right.
It would be nice if they would go back and compensate us the way they compensated the firefighters currently. said Retired Battalion Chief William Lee.
As of right now, the city considers the issue resolved but I’m told conversations are still being had with retired firefighters.