Retired El Paso firefighter says he did not receive full accrual payout from City of El Paso
UPDATE: ABC-7 spoke to the Deputy City Manager, Araceli Guerra, who says progress has been made in these payout processes. She said in the last couple of days the HR's payroll team has conducted audits into the accounts of seven firefighters and two police officers who haven't received their full payout.
As for the progress she mentioned, she said those nine audits have been completed.
The city recommended to firefighters to talk to them in person if they haven't received the money you're owed.
"It's such a complicated, complicated calculation. It's important that they understand. But it's something that you really need to understand in person. I think it's helpful, instead of a phone call or an email, it's always just really clear to have them in front of you so they can ask those questions," Guerra.
When asked why it takes so long to process these audits, in addition to understaffing Guerra said its complicated.
"It really entails, a lot of different variance. If sometimes we have firefighters that are on workers compensation. So when they leave on worker's compensation, the city then also pays them their entire paycheck. It's based on the, the collective bargaining the audits are denser, that we're ensuring that they're receiving the correct amounts," said Guerra.
ABC-7 also spoke to Jay Nicholson, the President of the El Paso Association of Firefighters who said he has some former firefighters who retired in 2023 yet still haven't received their payout.
"This a thing that we regularly bring up because it's an ongoing issue. But that said, it's only at the point where members of the affected members are going in and now they're making a big deal about it, or even potentially threatening legal action that we see all of a sudden," said Nicholson.
EL PASO, Texas (KVIA) -- Gabriel Trevino retired from the El Paso Fire Department in February 2025 after 13 years of service.
He says the City owed him $59,000 worth of accrual payouts, but shortly after he retired, he only received $20,000, and another $20,000 was taken out for workers' compensation.
After leaving EPFD, Trevino enrolled in school full time to work towards becoming a Physician Assistant.
"I have two young children, so my wife and I were looking forward to that money to pay for student loans (and) financially compensate my way through school," he said.
Samson Rivera is another El Paso firefighter who is set to retire after 14 years next month. He served as second vice president for the El Paso Firefighters Association.
"I'm not going to hold my breath for 30 days, assuming that then I'm going to get that payout," Rivera said. "I'm kind of expecting it not to happen. It makes it feel like you don't matter to them."
Rivera says he's heard about firefighters not getting paid their accruals for the past four years.
"After that first month, some guys were on it right away and were calling," he said. "For other guys, it would be over a year, and they would call us."
Trevino said he discussed his discrepancy with another retiree, to no avail.
"I've had the union look at it. I've had my financial advisor look at it," he said. "The general consensus is this sounds extremely fishy."
Rivera started asking the City for answers long before he retired. He called staff and showed up at City Hall, but after getting no clear answers, he asked City Rep Josh Acevedo for help.
"I was like, I want to fix it today, and I want to get to work on it," Acevedo said.
The District 2 representative brought the concerns to City Manager Dionne Mack, who told him she would have her staff look into it.
"Maybe we don't need two people working on this, maybe we need four, and we're going to get down to those efficiencies in a better time," Acevedo said. "Unfortunately a lot of these things take some time."
ABC-7 requested an in-person interview on Tuesday with City Manager Dionne Mack, or someone who could explain the process for approving accrual payouts.
Strategic Communications Director Laura Cruz-Acosta told us no one was available for an interview in time for this newscast, but shared the following statement:
"We are aware of the firefighter's concern. The City has prioritized the auditing of the files of recently retired firefighters and police to ensure all accrual-related payments are accurate and consistent with the applicable agreements. At this time there are a total of 9 files that remain to be audited.
This review process is highly complex and requires detailed, individualized analysis. Currently, we have only one staff member in the organization with the specialized expertise to perform this level of calculation. To address this staffing shortage, we have amended the position to help us attract more qualified candidates and are working to hire and train additional staff capable of handling this specialized work."
Cruz-Acosta went on to further explain:
"Accrual payouts are not specifically budgeted in advance because it is difficult to predict when an employee will retire or leave the organization. When that happens, the payout is processed using funds from the employee’s home department budget. There is no separate line item or dedicated funding pool in the General Fund for these expenses.
Just to clarify — this isn’t an investigation, but rather an ongoing and routine process. Every pay period, we typically see employees choosing to retire, so reviews of accrual payouts are a constant part of our operations. There’s no formal “start” or “end” to this work, as it’s built into our regular post-retirement processing.
It’s also important to note that this level of audit typically applies only to employees who, at some point during their tenure, submitted a worker’s compensation claim. That additional factor can complicate the final accrual calculations and trigger a more in-depth review.
Each case is unique, and without going into specifics, the circumstances and calculations can vary significantly from one file to another. In some cases, the calculations are cleared and the appropriate payment is issued to the retiree. In others, the audit may reveal an overpayment, and the retiree may owe money back to the City. This is why careful review is essential."
