Union president urges pension change, warns Austin EMS losing experienced medics

James Monks, president of the Austin EMS Association, told the commission Austin EMS faces a “revolving door” of recruitment and retention that harms service continuity. Monks said a primary driver is the current Group B retirement structure: while workers vest earlier, they must serve 30 years and reach age 62 to collect a pension, which he described as a significant disincentive compared with neighboring agencies where retirement is attainable earlier.

Monks recommended exploring several approaches: legislative changes to pension rules, a city‑sponsored match through an alternative retirement structure such as 457 options, or designing a locally financed path that recognizes service already completed. He also argued that Austin EMS captures revenue and could reallocate a portion back to the department to improve retention and staffing, noting that EMS represents roughly 10% of public safety spending and recovers about a third of its budget through revenue.

Commissioners asked for fiscal analysis and comparisons of alternative retirement models and requested this topic be returned for a deeper, data‑driven agenda item to assess costs and retention benefits.

Monks cautioned that unless retirement and workload are addressed, Austin will continue to lose experienced medics to neighboring departments and private health employers.