 Well the Bemidji City Council has placed unanimous support behind a pension increase for local paid on-call firefighters. The city has an agreement with the Firefighters Relief Association where if the association is unable to fund the pension benefit the city will maintain the benefit level. Through negotiations city staff and the fire department were able to agree on an increase of seven percent raising it from six thousand four hundred and eight dollars to six thousand eight hundred and fifty seven dollars. I'm going to support it now because I can see that you've taken steps forward not only to have more people participating by lowering investing but you you've taken the initiative on your own to secure your financial stability to a point. The seven percent increase will cover all 45 paid on-call fire department employees. If you enjoyed this segment of Lakeland News please consider making a tax-deductible contribution to Lakeland PBS.