Chiefland Firefighters Get 12 Percent Raise

By Terry Witt – Spotlight Senior Reporter

Chiefland City Commissioners Monday approved a 12 percent pay raise for their firefighters on a split vote.

The board voted 3-2 to give firefighters an increase of $1.86 per hour which is expected to be enough to retain firefighters who were talking about leaving for higher-paying jobs in other departments.

Commissioners approved the pay raise for the next six months. The board will have to discuss how to pay for the raise beyond six months. The raise will add $32,639 in costs to the 2022-23 fire department budget.

The city firefighter raise isn’t as big as the county’s $4 per hour raise for its EMTs and paramedics, many of whom are dual certified as firefighters. The dual certified EMTs and paramedics receive a fire supplement on top of their regular salary.

Chiefland Mayor Chris Jones and Commissioners Lance Hayes and Norman Weaver supported the raise for city firefighters while Commissioners Rollin Hudson and Lewrissa Johns were opposed.

Johns wanted to increase the pay for all city employees by the same percentage.

“I struggle with doing one and not the other. We have dedicated employees from top to bottom. We’re 20 years behind on pay,” Johns said.

City Manager Laura Cain said the additional money for an across-the-board raise of that size would have to come from reserve funds.

“Commissioner Johns and I talked about trying to increase the whole city at one time. That money would have to come from contingency and there’s not enough contingency money to increase every single employee the same amount as we’re giving the fire department,” she said.

Hudson felt the city’s share of the fire department budget should be funded entirely from the city’s fire tax. He asked Chief James Harris if he agreed.

“We can’t do that,” Harris said.

Harris said Government Services Group (GSG), the company that developed the assessment for the city, said the additional money to pay for the city’s entire contribution to the fire budget would have to come from the general fund.

Cain said she would check with GSG. She said GSG provided the city with three possible levels of funding for fire services. Commissioners adopted a once-a-year fire tax of $129, identical to the county commission. She will return to the board with information to address Hudson’s question about generating the city’s entire share of the fire budget from the fire tax.

Chiefland Fire Rescue gets its funding from three main sources. The Levy County Commission pays the city $297,635 for the fire department to answer fire calls outside the city limits. The city contributes $227,000 from its general fund to the fire department and the city fire tax provides $196,265. The general fund is supported by property taxes.

Otter Creek pays the city $1,918 to fight fires in the city.

Jones said he felt the city should concentrate on raises for the fire department at this point, but should also take a look at giving other employees raises during the budget process that’s about to start.

“Some of our other workers in other departments were left behind. I think that’s something this commission needs to think about,” Jones said.

Weaver backed the six-month raise.

“If we can do it, let’s do the best we can,” he said.

“I’ll go along with the majority,” Hayes said when asked where he stood on the raise.