Gone are the days that New Hampshire fire departments receive an influx of applications from motivated new recruits. A noble calling that was once highly desirable is now suffering from an epidemic like none it’s ever seen.
In the mid to late 2000s, New Hampshire’s fire fighter state entrance exam, otherwise known as the Candidate Physical Agility Test (CPAT), was seeing well over 500 candidates annually. Many of them touted a brand new fire science degree or even a paramedic certificate, making them highly marketable to the average fire department. In spite of this, most struggled to find a job in what was previously a highly competitive market.
Now, the very same test yields approximately 60% fewer candidates, leaving many departments unable to hire enough qualified applicants to fill their open positions. Last April, the number of candidates reached an all-time low with a mere 39 taking the quarterly test. You may be left asking yourself, “what has changed?”
A poll of our professional fire fighters shows that the erosion of their retirement benefit is atop the list of reasons they have left their careers in public service or are considering doing so. In 2011, the legislature voted to make monumental changes to the New Hampshire Retirement System in an attempt to correct years of underfunding. These changes negatively impacted the retirement security of public employees throughout the state, drastically changing the lives of hundreds of fire fighters.
Since that time, recruitment numbers have consistently trended downward. Departments have resorted to lowering their hiring requirements, incentivizing lateral transfers or even providing sign-on bonuses to join their ranks creating an interesting “shoe on the other foot” scenario. What’s deeply concerning is that we have yet to see these incentives produce the intended results.
One of the many changes to the system in 2011 was the change to the Average Final Compensation calculation. Under current law, fire fighters pay 11.8% on all of their compensation in order to fund their own retirement, yet their highest five years of compensation above their base pay is now excluded from their career average of compensation over base. This means that the employee is not only working more hours in an attempt to offset some of what they lost, but their retirement calculation is not even a true representation of what they’ve paid into the system.
This language is ethically, if not legally, questionable and makes it easier to understand why some public employees are leaving their careers. HB 1587 would aim to fix this disparity and allow the members’ highest five years to be included in their average compensation over base.
We have an opportunity to make positive incremental changes to the retirement system that will attract and retain qualified fire fighters, paramedics and police officers while ensuring that the system itself remains solvent. The New Hampshire Retirement System realized a 29.4% return on investments last fiscal year, which was the best return in over 30 years. Additionally, the three-year, five-year, 10-year, 20-year, and 25-year returns have all exceeded the assumed rate of investment return.
The changes to the retirement system ten years ago caused a ripple effect through New Hampshire’s fire service. Believing that people will continue to do these jobs regardless of the circumstances is a foolish assumption. It has become clear that although fire fighters and other first responders are well aware of the many inherent risks of this profession, the risk of being unable to retire on a livable wage is one that many are no longer willing to take.
They are forced to weigh the benefits of doing a job they love versus the cost of doing so. This is a comparison that has created a very real epidemic in New Hampshire, and one that we can no longer afford to ignore.
(Brian Ryll is president of the Professional Fire Fighters of New Hampshire, a state association representing 41 local unions, and approximately 2,000 active and retired professional fire fighters and paramedics across the Granite State.)