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Council raises part-time firefighter/EMS pay scale to improve recruitment
Summary
To address recent vacancies, council approved Ordinance 0062609 updating job categories and pay schedules for part-time firefighter/EMS positions; the chief said the new scale moves pay to about the 75% mark of comparable local scales and is within the 2026 budget.
The city's fire department requested amendments to the job categories and pay schedules for part-time firefighter/EMS positions to address recent vacancies. The fire chief told council the department's prior pay had fallen behind peers and that the new pay target is around the 75% mark of comparable scales.
"When we went out and looked at it, we were on the low end, in our area...we brought us back into the right around the 0.75 mark, 75% mark of that scale," the chief said, adding the change was within the existing 2026 budget and intended to reduce overtime that can arise from unfilled shifts. Council member Gorman moved for approval with a second by Kelly and the ordinance passed on a voice vote.
Council and staff characterized the change as a recruitment and retention measure; no additional budget amendment was recorded in the transcript.
