Local firefighters are seeking a raise in the coming year’s budget, claiming their pay falls well below comparison cities.
Firefighter Jordan Stogsdill appeared before the City Council this week, asking that the personnel of the Greenville Fire-Rescue Department be granted an increase above the raise already proposed for all city employees in the proposed budget.
“This last week we lost two firefighters,” Stogsdill said. Three other firefighters had left in the past nine months to find work with other departments. “The sole reason for leaving is pay.”
City Manager Massoud Ebrahim told the Council he was able to balance the upcoming budget in large part due to the number of positions which were left vacant.
“We are trying to be more efficient and do more with less,” Ebrahim said.
Ebrahim has proposed a 3 percent across the board pay increase for city employees in next year’s budget. The city’s employees have seen only a 1.5 percent increase in their pay in the past four years.
Stogsdill told the Council Tuesday that the Greenville Firefighter’s Association was seeking a 4.14 percent increase in pay in the coming year, with another 1 percent increase the following year. Stogsdill said the increases would help close the gap with the eight “market cities” used by city officials to compare to Greenville, which as of February have included Cleburne, McKinney, Rockwall, Sulphur Springs, Terrell, and Waxahachie, Weatherford and Wylie.
“Currently the fire department is 14.2 percent behind our current comparison cities,” Stogsdill said, adding the police department pay is 6.8 percent behind the cities. “We are the only city which has such a disparity.”
Ebrahim said there currently is a hiring freeze among all departments in the city, with the exception of the police and fire departments. He explained the proposed budget has left vacancies in the library, finance department, and engineering. The City Planner’s position will not be filled, and neither will the Parks and Recreation Director’s post. Ebrahim said one code enforcement officer position will not be filled and that the vacancies are expected to save the city $848,000 in the coming year.
“The key is efficiency,” he explained. “We are delivering the same services as we did three months ago.”
Council member Velma Del Bosque-Hobdy asked whether the training provided the local firefighters was comparable to that of those earning the higher pay in the market cities. She said she wasn’t against the idea of a raise, “but I want to see quantifiable reasons for it.”
“I think you’ll find we’re more qualified than any of our comparison cities in the services we provide,” replied Fire Chief Doug Caison.
The Council is scheduled to vote Aug. 27 to set the city’s property tax rate and conduct the annual public hearing and tax rate on the budget during the Sept. 10 meeting. The Council is scheduled to vote to adopt the budget and tax rate on Sept. 24.