BUFFALO (AP) - Buffalo firefighters would be forced to repay the city about $9,000 each after a state judge tossed out a pay raise they received three years ago.

State Supreme Court Justice John Michalek says the city must comply with a Court of Appeals decision that nullified an arbitration award giving firefighters a 5.5-percent pay raise.

Michalek's decision requires the city to eliminate the raise and recoup what would amount to a repayment of about $230 a month for most of the city's nearly 700 firefighters.

The ruling came after the firefighters' union took the city to court over an ongoing contract dispute. Firefighters have been without a contract since 2002.

Union officials call the ruling a victory because it also wipes out concessions the city had won.