El Pasoans approve all 3 firefighter propositions

With all precicnts reporting, El Pasoans voted “yes” for propositions 1, 2 and 3.

Proposition 1

19,289 people or 56 percent voted yes to give firefighters a second chance if they fail a drug test, while 15,039 people or 44 percent voted no.

Proposition 2

23,437 people or 68 percent voted yes and 11,202 people or 32 percent voted no.

A yes vote on Proposition 2 means firefighters will get a 9 percent across the board base-pay raise through 2018. That’s 3 percent a year plus annual 5 percent raises for the first nine years a firefighter is in each pay grade.

Currently, about half of the fire department is capped at nine years.

The owner of the average home valued at $124,000 would pay:

Just under $58 over three years with the yes vote.

Proposition 3

20,203 people or 58 percent voted yes while 14,165 people or 42 percent voted no.

Proposition 3 had to do with how much firefighters pay for health insurance. A yes vote means going with the fire union’s proposal of a 22 percent increase each year from 2016-2018.

The City of El Paso released the following statement in response to the passage of the firefighter propositions.

“During the election process, the City provided the facts to the public so voters would have a clear understanding of the cost to them as taxpayers. Now that the election is over, the City will respect the wishes of the voters and will, as always, support the El Paso Fire Department for the great service they provide in our community. Our next step is to move forward and focus on upcoming budget discussions.”