The News Messenger found out Friday that firefighters did not take the same cuts although Lincoln’s city manager last year said that all city employees took a five-percent reduction in pay due to the city’s budget deficit.

Tips called into The News Messenger last month said that Police Chief Brian Vizzusi was fired because police officers stopped supporting Vizzusi when they discovered that firefighters didn’t take the same five-percent pay cuts.

On Friday, Lincoln Fire Chief Dave Whitt said the firefighters did not take 5-percent pay cuts “but took a reduction in the rate of their overtime pay.”

On Jan. 14, 2009, The News Messenger reported that the Lincoln Fire Department “accepted all of the city’s requests, which include giving up the future cost-of-living pay increases for the term of the contract, which ends in 2011, giving up of the potential 5-percent merit increases each employee was previously contractually entitled to and a 5-percent reduction in pay,” according to (City Manager Jim) Estep.”

Estep said in the same article that the salary cuts were made “to save jobs.”

“I believe so,” was Mayor Tom Cosgrove’s response when asked by The News Messenger if all city employees took a 5-percent pay cut last year.

The News Messenger asked Estep on Friday if police officers were upset that firefighters did not take the same salary cuts they took. Estep replied that he had “heard that there may have been a misunderstanding about what the fire staff made in concessions as opposed to what they (police) had made.”

“I don’t think either have had it explained how they were (each) cut,” Estep said.

Estep said this week he would have “a meeting with all of the staff to clear the misunderstanding up.”

“Some employees doing a 12-day per year furlough equates to a 4.6 percent reduction, and in police and fire, that doesn’t work,” Estep said. “(We) had to find another way to get the salary reduction (from both departments).”

According to Estep, “the police went from an 80-hour shift to an 84-hour shift at the same amount of money for more hours,” which he said was “essentially a salary reduction.”

“With fire, they had overtime, which in fire is staffing. When someone is on vacation or sick, it has to be backfilled,” Estep said. “Overtime (was) changed how it is calculated, so it’s a greater cost of savings than if they had the furlough.”

In related news, The News Messenger sent Estep a request for information Friday, under the California Public Records Act, on what Vizzusi’s severance pay was and the reason why he is no longer here.

City Clerk Patricia Avila responded Friday in an e-mail that her agency has 10 days from receipt of the request to “determine whether the request, in whole or in part, seeks copies of disclosable public records in the possession of the agency (City)…. I will be getting back to you within those 10 days.”