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Fire chiefs urge pay increases, warn of retention crisis as districts present budgets
Summary
Multiple fire chiefs told the finance committee that competitive pay remains the biggest retention challenge; districts proposed flat COLAs or percentage raises and emphasized capital needs and staffing levels alongside requests for county coordination on salary parity.
Fire district leaders presented FY26 budgets on April 21 and urged the county to prioritize firefighter pay to address recruitment and retention problems. Burton-area chiefs said they would not seek a millage increase but are asking to implement a flat $3,000 COLA for rank-and-file personnel or comparable percentage raises to rise toward regional averages. "I targeted...current number for base pay, and then I included 3%...so I targeted all those other departments based on their 3%," one chief said, explaining adjustments to recruitment and base pay.
Chiefs also described capital needs — bunker-gear replacements, engine repairs and new apparatus — and emphasized that pay differentials across neighboring jurisdictions push trained firefighters to leave for higher salaries. Several council members and the committee asked staff to convene chiefs to develop a regional study of firefighter compensation and a multi-year plan for parity. The committee directed staff to continue budget work and to include fire districts in ongoing compensation planning ahead of final budget decisions.
