"I don't want there to be unintended consequences we are going to regret," he said. "I'd like to review some of the numbers provided by the officers, the administration and the human resources department. Is it worth spending a little more time to flush out these possible unintended consequences?"

But Stewart pushed a vote. Now Billings and the council have to figure out how to pay for the change.

Provo has a parity ordinance that requires the city to pay the same amount to every employee's retirement. To boost all of Provo's employees by 9 percent would cost $3 million a year.

The council indicated it would change the parity ordinance early next year. Stewart said the ordinance already created disparity because firefighters didn't have to contribute to their retirement because the state collects a tax on homeowners insurance to fund part of the retirement fund.

The question now is how other city employees will react. None was in attendance Tuesday. Provo passed its parity ordinance in 1983 to deal with complaints between employees about parity in retirement costs.

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