THE RECENTLY RATIFIED Cranston firefighters’ contract could serve as Exhibit A in support of The Journal’s July 7 editorial “Budget trauma,” which concluded that much of local property taxes are used to fund extravagant pension and insurance deals with public employees, sharply reducing localities’ ability to finance public services.

I doubt whether there is another public-sector contract in Rhode Island — or any other state — that contains such generous and costly benefits. Consider the following contract provisions:

•Retirement at any age after 20 years of service.

•Annual lump sum longevity bonuses, regardless of performance, equal to 10 to 13 percent of salary. These bonuses can range from $5,000 to $8,000 or more. (Although the head of the firefighters’ union recently stated the firefighters were going without a “pay raise” for 18 months, he neglected to mention that the firefighters were receiving these “bonuses” during this time period.)

•Extra pay for 15 legal holidays, including Sept. 11, which isn’t even a holiday for New York City firefighters. The extra pay is given whether or not an individual firefighter works on the holiday. This extra pay can add up to another $4,000 annually.

•Active firefighters pay a health-insurance premium co-share of only $1,040 annually ($87 monthly) for family medical coverage, which includes vision and dental care. Retired firefighters receive free family coverage until age 65.

•20 days of sick leave per year, plus 60 days for an extended illness. Payment for up to 80 days of unused sick leave upon retirement.

•Up to eight additional days for bereavement leave.

•Additional days for “special leave,” including three days for a firefighter’s own wedding, two days for a birth of a child, and one day for baptisms, first communions, confirmations, Bar and Bat Mitzvahs and high-school or college graduations of the firefighter or his or her immediate family.

The most unusual and perhaps most expensive benefit is the method used to compute a retiree’s “base salary” for pension-computation purposes. Most retirement systems, including Rhode Island’s state system, compute the base salary by taking an average of the employee’s three highest years. For example, if these amounts were $50,000, $52,000 and $54,000, the base salary would be set at $52,000.

However, under this contract the base salary is the salary the firefighter was earning at the time of retirement. In this case, that would be $54,000, to which would be added a longevity bonus of up to 13 percent ($7,000) and pay for 15 holidays, conservatively estimated to be an additional $3,000 — for a final base salary for pension computation purposes of $64,000, compared to the norm of $52,000.

Once retired, retirees continue to receive extra pay each year for longevity bonuses and extra pay for 15 holidays! Strange, but true — and very costly. They are also guaranteed 3 percent annual increases in their pensions. If active-duty employees receive a higher pay raise, however, retirees receive that higher amount. Finally, they receive a 5 percent raise when they turn 55.

Cranston taxpayers — who have organized to fight concrete plants and big-box developments — should get organized, get informed and begin the fight for contract provisions that are fair to both the firefighters and the taxpayers. One of their first goals could be to have city officials make public how much each of the major contract provisions cited above cost Cranston taxpayers annually.

Although Cranston’s director of administration said upon ratification of the new firefighters’ contract that this “shows a new day in Cranston,” Cranston taxpayers will see no relief until major changes are made in the above contract provisions and similar provisions in the Cranston police contract. And major changes will not be made without continued pressure from informed taxpayers.

Jim Davey is a former state representative from Cranston who now lives in Cary, N.C.