AUSTIN, Texas - The Texas Supreme Court on Thursday (Dec. 17, 2009) heard oral arguments in a pay dispute between the city of Dallas and its 5,000 firefighters and police officers.

The 16-year-old case stems from a pay-raise referendum approved by Dallas voters in 1979. The first responders claim the city started ignoring the conditions of the referendum – which the city adopted as an ordinance – in 1982 and they filed suit in 1994 to enforce the ordinance and receive back pay.

The case has been in the courts for almost 16 years and some estimates place the city’s potential liability at as much as $1 billion.

“It is unfortunate the city of Dallas has persisted in litigating this case instead of honoring the financial commitment that voters made to their fire and police officers more than two decades ago. Other remedies exist that would significantly decrease the city’s financial exposure, but it has repeatedly refused to consider those options,” said Austin attorney Terry Scarborough, the plaintiffs’ lead trial attorney.

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