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Conway alderman outlines pay-restructure plan for fire department; council discussion only
Summary
Alderman David Grama presented a committee proposal to add incentive tiers and new pay steps for Conway Fire Department personnel. The proposal would cost about $330,000 a year to the general fund if fully implemented; council discussed timing but took no formal action.
Alderman David Grama presented a proposed restructuring of Conway’s fire department pay schedule during the May 27 City Council meeting and said the proposal was for discussion only.
Grama said the committee he chaired met several times with city staff and the fire chief and that the package would add ranks and incentive pay meant to reduce promotional “bottlenecks” and reward certifications and language skills. “All this that that we're gonna look at is for discussion only,” Grama told the council, stressing that “there's nothing implied by our discussion that it will be done this way or a different way.”
The nut graf: the plan would change ranks and add multiple incentive pay categories — medical certification, education, language, certificate-hour tiers and longevity — and Grama told the council the full package, as printed, would increase annual general-fund payroll costs by about $330,000, roughly 3.7%.
The proposal would create an extra step in several ranks to give employees room to earn pay increases while waiting for openings at higher titles. Grama outlined how the additional tiers would relieve pressure at the captain/engineer level: the committee’s structure would let a number of captains and engineers move into new intermediate steps immediately rather than wait for a battalion chief vacancy. Grama said examples in the handout show 96 of 112 department employees would receive some increase under the full proposal.
On incentive pay, Grama described the committee’s recommendations and the amounts the draft materials assigned: a $4,000 annual paramedic incentive (already in place for 12 people), $1,000 for advanced EMT, a proposed education incentive that mirrors police incentives, a proposed language incentive of $3,000 to match nearby North Little Rock, and a certificate-tier system (the draft showed a $1,000 payment for the highest certificate tier). He said longevity pay would follow a tiered schedule similar to the police plan, with an example of $900 at year 10 and an additional $90 per year thereafter. “It all comes down to available money,” Grama said.
Grama and the committee asked Chief Winter to design a pay-structure model (without dollar recommendations) and the chief’s team produced the incentive framework the committee then assigned numbers to for discussion. Grama said the committee included community members and city staff and that they met four times.
Council members discussed implementation timing and sequencing. Grama suggested options: implement the full plan July 1 for a half year, build the changes into the 2026 budget, or phase changes (for example, start with education and language incentives, hold longevity until late in the year). Grama noted that longevity pay comprised a large share of the total cost (about $124,000 in his calculations) and could be delayed until November to see how sales-tax receipts track.
No motion or vote was taken. Grama closed by saying the matter would return for further consideration and possible action at a later meeting.
Ending: The council did not adopt the pay changes May 27; staff and council members signaled they will continue to vet numbers and timing and may bring specific ordinance language or budget adjustments back for a future vote.
