Saint John Mayor Don Darling is asking the city manager to come back to the next council meeting with a report on the contract settlements and negotiations for the Police and Fire departments over the last 15 years.
Darling told the council tough times are ahead to deal with the financial situation the city is in and he wants the citizens of Saint John to know what kind of costs they are dealing with. Both the police and fire departments are going to arbitration.
Darling says the average citizen would be surprised to hear that a first class police officer is making $130,000 with benefits and a first class fire fighter $125,000.
The Mayor says he is against raising taxes in the budget and admits cuts are coming and no departments will be untouchable anymore.
Darling does say he will ask for similar reports for all departments in the city.
