Fire department leadership told the Winchester-Clark County Fiscal Court that retention and training costs have driven heavy overtime and operational stress, and proposed immediate pay changes the department says are affordable within its current payroll forecast.

Chief Clark Hancock (presenting) said the department currently lists 34 personnel and is operating at near-full strength, but long-term shortages and frequent turnover raise safety and overtime costs. Hancock said the department's minimum safe staffing is eight per shift and that in recent years the service has experienced attrition rates of 42% (2023) and 30% (2024) among newly hired personnel. He said the department spent roughly $208,000 on unscheduled overtime last year and that training new firefighters is labor- and instructor-intensive.

Hancock told the court the department has analyzed payroll trends and is projecting that maintaining full staffing would reduce overtime and could leave available budget to fund targeted pay increases. His recommendations included: a $1-per-hour across-the-board raise immediately, followed by consideration of an additional $1 in January if budget performance remains positive; raising the part-time starting rate from about $9.03 to $13 per hour; and increasing the lateral-pay premium from $0.10 per hour per year of experience to $0.20, up to about $2 total, to attract certified, experienced hires.

Hancock cited comparative pay in neighboring departments and summarized the department's investment in training: an in-house 13-week program to prepare new hires, EMT and hazmat courses, rescue and technician-level trainings that add months of instruction, and the department's new controlled-burn training facility at Station 1. He said much of the recruit training requires multiple instructors and overtime to provide safe, hands-on instruction.

Court members discussed the proposal. Several magistrates expressed support for immediate relief to boost retention, with one magistrate saying, "I think in the interest of retention, keeping overtime somewhat under control, I'm in favor of the dollar." Another magistrate urged that any pay changes be adopted formally through an order or amendment to the administrative code, and the court directed staff to draft the necessary paperwork for consideration at a future meeting. The court also discussed an unfinished contract-repayment mechanism: Hancock said the repayment clause for recruits who leave before a service term is not currently codified in the county's administrative code and would need to be added to require repayment.

No final salary adjustment was adopted at the meeting. Several court members said they supported placing a formal proposal on an upcoming agenda and requested an order and ordinance language be prepared so the raise and associated contract and administrative-code changes could be considered together. The judge said he would schedule the item for a future meeting so the court could vote on a formal amendment.

Direct quotes in this account come from Chief Clark Hancock and court members during the public presentation and subsequent discussion; figures were given by Hancock and reviewed by court staff during the meeting.