435 Hamilton Street
Allentown, Pa. 18101
Allentown
Minutes - Final
Budget and Finance Committee
Wednesday, August 2, 2023
5:45 PM
Council Chambers
Roll Call: : Chair Napoli, Hendricks, Gerlach
Bill 68
Amending the Firemen’s Pension Fund Ordinance.
Mr. Santo Napoli asked Ms. Patel if she could elaborate on this.
Ms. Bina Patel stated that she has Jenn Palenchar who is a Finance
Analyst and also works with the Pension Fund.
Ms. Jennifer Palenchar stated that this is cleaning it up. The Ordinance has
not been updated in some years. The CBAs get updated frequently. They
are trying to bring the Ordinances in line with the CBAs. Specifically, what
they are doing is added investing benefit. The last time the IAFF CBA was
updated, they added the options of a Vested Pension to the Firefighters.
However, they did not add that to the Ordinance. Now, they have the
members taking advantage of that benefit. In order for the Pension Board
to approve it and add it to their Ordinance. The other things that they are
doing is getting rid of the early retirement provision. The same situation, it
was removed from the CBA during their last Agreement. She stated that
they are removing from the Ordinance so that it is clear to the firefighters
what is and is not an option for them that this time.
Mr. Santo Napoli thanked Ms. Palenchar and asked if there were any
questions from his colleagues.
Mr. Ed Zucal asked has any of this been discussed with the members of
the Firemen's Union.
Ms. Jennifer Palenchar stated yes, and they agree that the city needs to
follow the CBA and provide these options. This is the correct process and
when you read the CBA, this is something that the city agreed to do back in
2021. They were supposed to update the Ordinance at that time. Things
fell behind. They are aware that the city is doing this and supportive of it.
