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Conway council adopts new firefighter pay scale, delays longevity pay pending funding plan
Summary
After extensive committee review and public discussion, the City Council approved a committee-backed pay-scale change (scenario 4 with adjustments) effective July 1 and instructed staff to prepare an ordinance to appropriate the funds; longevity bonus payments were deferred until revenue clarity in the fall.
The Conway City Council voted unanimously on June 10 to adopt a revised pay structure for the Conway Fire Department, advancing a committee proposal intended to reduce pay compression in upper ranks and expand certificate and incentive pay while deferring longevity lump-sum payments until the city can confirm revenue availability.
Alderman Grimes, who led the committee discussions, presented multiple scenarios developed with finance staff and the fire department. The committee’s recommended option—labeled scenario 4—was amended in the meeting to set the new firefighter-engineer-senior salary at $65,000 (rather than $64,000) and to set a new fire-captain-senior salary at $79,000 (rather than $78,000). The council also directed that longevity-pay decisions be postponed until October or November so the city can evaluate revenue performance for the remainder of the fiscal year.
“We presented a starting point,” Alderman Grimes said during the committee discussion. The council discussed multiple trade-offs: Conway’s starting firefighter pay was described as competitive, but members and fire leadership agreed that pay at mid- and upper levels had created compression problems that make retention difficult. Chief Winter, speaking for the department, described the plan as an initial step: “This is not where we want to be. This is a starting point,” he said, urging the council to act incrementally and to continue studying longer-term funding options.
Under the council’s motion, the council accepted the new pay scale and a set of incentive and certificate pays proposed by the committee. The council voted to suspend the rules to consider the item at the meeting and instructed staff to prepare an ordinance for the next council meeting to appropriate whatever funds are necessary to implement the change—Council members said they expected the appropriation item would specify the final dollar amounts and make the July 1 effective date operational. The council also made clear that any additional steps beyond the adopted starting package—such as full implementation of longevity lump-sum payments—would await clearer revenue signals.
Councilmembers emphasized they will continue to work with the fire chief and finance staff to define the longer-term target and to identify revenues or other approaches to reach a desired full compensation plan. The motion passed 8-0.
