Lawsuit filed against City for using Fire Pension funds to balance the budget, Fire Fighters outraged

Combined, the Mayor’s budget and Strauss’s Chair’s Package close the Actuarial Account; transfer the balance to the FPEN; and use $32M for General Fund Purposes, all in contravention of RCW 41.16 per Seattle Firefighters' Pension Board vs City of Seattle.

The fight is over two budget bills transmitted by the Mayor and a Council Budget Action sponsored by Budget Chair Strauss, scheduled for votes in the Select Budget Committee Friday, Nov. 13. CB 121319 ends the annual transfer into the Actuarial Account, closes it, and rewrites the fund's policies. The reserve was built to fully fund the remaining firefighter pension liability by the end of 2028; Mayor Katie Wilson's 2027-2028 budget would close it early and zero out its $44M total balance.

CB 121320 sweeps the balance from fund 61050 into the Firefighter Pension Fund (61040); and Council Budget Action FG-904-A uses the freed-up money to cut the mandatory General Fund contribution to FPEN $10,997,500 in 2027 and in 2028. The Mayor's budget already draws about $5M a year of the reserve to lower that contribution to roughly $18M. Proposed Budget Chair’s Package CB 121319   CB 121320 

NOTE: a footnote in the proposed budget puts the balance at about $44.2M ($25.8M budgetary + $18.4M non-budgetary)