County Commission adds $3,000 EMS pay increase to FY2026 budget, approves tax-levy amendments

The County Commission on a called meeting amended its fiscal year 2026 General Services appropriations to include a $3,000 annual pay increase for emergency medical services personnel and approved related tax-levy amendments on first reading. The commission also approved urban-services appropriations and the urban tax levy.

The change came after Commissioner Landon Gulley proposed an amendment to add a $3,000 lump annual pay increase for EMS employees, saying, “When I say 3,000, though, I don't care if we're paying out in one lump paycheck, but that it doesn't go as an hourly increase. It's each year, one lump, $3,000 here on out. It's not a bonus. It's a pay piece.” The amendment passed 12–5 with three commissioners absent and was folded into the ordinance when the commission approved the first reading of the…