To: Honorable Mayor and Members of City Council
From: MJ Tueros, Human Resources Director
Prepared By: Caitlin Saldanha, Management Analyst II
TITLE:
Title
Total Tentative Agreement between the City of Napa and the Napa City Firefighters Association, IAFF, Local 3124, AFL-CIO (“NCFA”)
LABEL
RECOMMENDED ACTION:
Recommendation
Approve the Total Tentative Agreement between the City of Napa (“City”) and the Napa City Firefighters Association, IAFF, Local 3124, AFL-CIO (“NCFA”) for the term of July 1, 2026 through June 30, 2031; and authorize the City Manager to finalize and execute a successor Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to implement the Total Tentative Agreement.
Body
DISCUSSION:
The MOU between the City and NCFA defines the compensation and benefits paid by the City to NCFA member employees in the classifications of Firefighter, Firefighter/Paramedic, and Fire Captain. The term of the current NCFA MOU ended on June 30, 2026.
In March of 2026, the City and NCFA began negotiations on a new MOU. On June 18, 2026, representatives of each party reached a Total Tentative Agreement on a package for a five-year agreement. On July 28, 2026, the parties agreed to an addendum to the Total Tentative Agreement. The Total Tentative Agreement is subject to ratification by NCFA members and the City Council. NCFA ratified the agreement by a vote of their membership on August 5, 2026, and notified the City via email that the agreement had been ratified.
The major terms of the agreement are as follows:
• Five-Year Term, July 1, 2026 through June 30, 2031
• Fire Department Reorganization:
o Create a new classification of Fire Engineer by the pay period beginning July 3, 2027
o Conduct reclassification process for no greater than 35 employees, including up to 17 overfills and 18 allocated budgeted positions
o Eliminate Firefighter/Paramedic classification once the Fire Engineer classification is established and filled
o Create a new Paramedic Pay as follows:
- 10% Paramedic Pay for Firefighters, effective July 3, 2027
- 6% Paramedic Pay for Fire Engineer, effective July 3, 2027
- Increase to 7.5% Paramedic Pay for Fire Engineers, effective January 1, 2029
- Increase to 10% Paramedic Pay for Fire Engineers, effective July 1, 2030
- No specialty pays are currently included in the MOU Overtime Rate. Effective July 3, 2027 Paramedic Pay will be the only specialty pay included in the MOU Overtime Rate
o Eliminate 3% Driver Operator 1A and 2% Driver Operator 1B pays, effective July 2, 2027
o Eliminate 3% Apparatus Specialist and 2% Fitness Coordinator pays, effective June 30, 2029
o Increase from 2.5% to 3.5% Certification Pay for Fire Captains who have completed Napa Fire Department Captain’s Position Task Book and receive the State Fire Training’s Company Officer Certification (or SFT Fire Officer Certification), effective July 3, 2027
• 2% salary increase, effective the first full pay period following City Council’s approval
• 5% salary increase for Fire Captains, effective the first full pay period following City Council’s approval (in light of the elimination of 5% Fire Captain Administrative Staff Premium)
• 2% salary increase, effective the pay period beginning July 3, 2027
• 2.5% salary increase, effective the pay period containing July 1, 2028
• 2.5% salary increase, effective the pay period containing July 1, 2029
• 2.5% salary increase, effective the pay period containing July 1, 2030
• Create two tiers of Bilingual Pay - 4% for written and oral skills, and 3.5% for oral skills
• Remove Newark and add City of Alameda as a survey agency
• Extend CTO cashouts to the first full pay period following December 31
• Add 4th vacation slot for 12 shifts only
• Add Organized Mess clause regarding IRS requirements for on-duty meals
• Add Re-Opener for pending legislation regarding retirement benefit options
• Other language changes to reflect current practice, incorporate previously agreed upon side letters or otherwise provide additional clarity in the contract.
FINANCIAL IMPACTS:
The estimated cost for the General Fund in FY 2026-27 for implementation of this agreement is approximately $0.32 million ($316,000). The Adopted FY 2026-27 Budget included a COLA assumption for all groups. This TA would have no additional unbudgeted costs in FY 2026-27 to the General Fund. A more detailed costing will be done at the employee level to calculate any necessary budget actions. A Budget Amendment may be presented to the City Council at a future meeting after execution of the MOU, along with the adoption of updated salary schedules. Costs associated with changes to the terms of the MOU will be budgeted accordingly in future fiscal years.
CEQA:
The Human Resources Director has determined that the Recommended Action described in this Agenda Report is not subject to CEQA, pursuant to CEQA Guidelines Section 15060 (c).
DOCUMENTS ATTACHED:
ATCH 1 - Total Tentative Agreement Package between City of Napa and NCFA (with addendum)
NOTIFICATION:
None.