The Eagle Pass City Council on June 24 approved a resolution directing the city manager to address staffing and retention concerns for the police and fire departments after presentations from the HR director, police chief and fire chief.

The presentations detailed recent and planned pay and benefit changes, recruitment partnerships, training and equipment purchases the city says are designed to make public-safety careers more competitive and to reduce turnover.

HR Director Miss Campos reviewed recent pay actions and benefits. She showed prior cost-of-living adjustments and noted the May increase of an average 7.112% with a pay-scale upgrade. Campos said trainee starting wages have risen substantially since 2022: police officer trainees now start at $18 per hour and firefighter/EMT trainees at $17.19 per hour. She described premium pay (a $2-per-hour COVID-era premium continued by council), assignment pay (monthly supplements for roles such as K-9 and motorcycle units), certification pay (monthly tiers: intermediate $200, advanced $400, master $600), longevity pay (up to $1,200 per year), and a 2023 retirement employer contribution increase from 10% to 12% (a 5% to 6% employee contribution increase was noted).

"We saw a 7.5% COLA adjustment" in previous years and "a 7.112% average increase" in May, Campos said while reviewing multi-year pay changes and the structure of premium and certification pay.

Police Chief Gonzales described cultural and career-development steps: formalized awards and citations, a new certification-pay ladder tied to years of service and training, leadership development, an ongoing recruitment pipeline with Southwest Texas College law-enforcement academy instructors, targeted training (44 trainings in six months) and grant-seeking such as a COPS Hiring Program application to fund additional officers. He also listed recent equipment acquisitions including patrol vehicles, ballistic helmets and rifle shields, drones for a real-time crime unit, license-plate readers, and upgraded radios.

"We've been sending our staff to over 44 trainings," Gonzales said, adding that certification pay and recognition programs have been important retention tools.

Fire Chief Mello reviewed department staffing, training and equipment, including a 24-on/48-off shift schedule and plans to survey personnel about possible alternate schedules (he noted prior experiments with 48/96 shifts). He cited acquisitions such as ambulances, brush trucks, a swift-water rescue boat, mobile camera systems, new stretchers and ventilators, and described mental-health training and peer-support efforts with the police department. He said the department is pursuing whole-blood capability for ambulances and expanding paramedic training slots.

Councilmembers questioned metrics and directed staff to provide additional data: time-to-hire metrics, retention rates broken down by early/mid/late career stages, and analysis of the effect of step increases and the proposed removal of step caps so long-tenured employees receive the same percentage increases as others.

Councilman Elias Diaz moved to approve the public-safety resolution; the motion was seconded and approved unanimously. Staff will return with requested metrics and implementation details for the council to consider alongside broader compensation changes.