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Commissioners approve two‑year rollout of new EMS pay scale for Starflight to align pay with local market
Summary
After months of study, the court on Aug. 26 approved a new Starflight/EMS pay scale to make air ambulance pay competitive with local ground EMS pay. Implementation will occur in two steps over two years; staff gave detailed costing and staff will form an EMS pay working group to monitor market alignment.
Travis County Commissioners on Aug. 26 unanimously approved creation of a dedicated Emergency Medical Services pay scale for the county’s Starflight air ambulance and related EMS staff, and authorized a two‑year implementation that county budget staff said will total about $1.37 million when fully phased in.
Why: Starflight medics, nurses and pilots have higher certification and rescue requirements than many ground‑ambulance medics and have struggled with recruitment and retention as ground EMS pay in the Austin area rose. HR and PBO designed an EMS pay scale indexed to the City of Austin/Austin‑Travis County EMS (ATCEMS) pay table, with an additional premium to reflect Starflight’s higher qualifications.
Key features and costing • Market indexing and premiums: The proposed scale sets entry salaries roughly aligned to about a five‑year ATCEMS medic and adds a 15% premium for Starflight medics; the resulting entry amounts given in the presentation were approximately $90,033 for paramedics, $79,928 for flight mechanics and $118,500 for pilots. • Step system and placement: The scale uses a grade‑and‑step design similar to POPS; initial placement for FY26 would place employees at a step equal to roughly half their years of service (rounded) to limit one‑year cost spikes, with full step progression returned to anniversary‑date increments in FY28. • Two‑year cost: County analysts provided a two‑year implementation plan. Year‑one placement and ad pays were estimated at about $786,113; the year‑two increase to move employees to full step placement was estimated at about $584,005; total two‑year cost about $1,370,006. • Ongoing governance: Staff proposed an EMS pay‑scale working group to monitor market shifts and recommend adjustments as needed.
Commission comments and context Several commissioners praised the decision and thanked Starflight and EMS staff for rescue work during recent floods. In public briefing material, staff noted that Segal, the county’s MSS contractor, could not benchmark Starflight reliably in the 2022 survey given the uniqueness of the operation; staff therefore worked with PBO and HRMD to create a benchmarked, market‑aligned scale. The court approved the two‑year plan and directed staff to integrate the costs into the FY26 compensation modeling.
Ending Staff said the new scale should make Starflight recruitment more competitive and reduce reliance on overtime and vacancy‑driven strain. The court approved the pay‑scale creation and two‑year implementation plan and directed staff to continue monitoring market alignment via the proposed EMS working group.
