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City staff told committee members that they had been unable to locate records indicating the precise origins of the benefit — a provision that is not part of official city policy but was described Tuesday as a “long-standing part of the compensation package.”

“Was this a benefit that administration just gave itself?” asked Coun. Jeromy Farkas. “Without approval from the council of the day if there is no motion or resolution or any paper trail?”

The city paid out nearly $13 million in retirement allowances over a three-year period beginning in 2016, according to municipal data. And the long-term liability accrued as a result of the practice was estimated to be around $73.8 million as of the end of 2018.

The benefit is outlined in at least one collective bargaining agreement between the city and the Calgary chapter of the International Association of FireFighters (IAFF).

City staff said Calgary’s thriving labour market in the 1980s was likely behind the practice, which may have been aimed at boosting worker attraction and retention.

A report presented to committee members Tuesday, however, found the benefit did not exist in any other comparable Canadian municipalities, including Edmonton, Mississauga, Ottawa, Toronto and Vancouver.

The city also acknowledged that in its own recent analysis, the practice had “limited value” in retaining staff and was not considered a talent attraction tool.

But ending the practice too quickly, without careful consideration of the effect on labour talks currently underway at the city, could carry “quite significant legal difficulties,” city staff warned.