Friday, Sep. 12, 2008

Survey: Fire, police salaries below average

By SARAH JUNEK

Firefighter and police officer salaries in Keller are below average, according to a survey presented to the City Council during a budget hearing Tuesday.

The survey, a snapshot of salaries in 13 other North Texas cities, found firefighters are paid 8.46 percent less than their counterparts’ average in other cities. Police officer salaries are 2.7 percent less.

Despite the pay gap, officials are not proposing larger raises for the 2008-09 fiscal year.

“We generally don’t recommend a market adjustment unless it’s greater than 5 percent,” said the city’s personnel director, Carolyn Nivens, who presented the survey data. “If we get behind, then we’ll have to play catch up.”

Because the difference in police salaries is less than 5 percent, they were not discussed at much length Tuesday. Most pay-related comments were focused on firefighters.

Nivens did not recommend adjusting the salaries of more than 50 firefighters and paramedics to the survey average. Doing so would cost the city an additional $80,000.

“It’s something we’re certainly going to watch when we do this again next year,” City Manager Dan O’Leary said.

The city has proposed taking on more personnel costs in what officials say will be tight fiscal year in 2009. The draft budget, proposed late last month, calls for a 3 percent across-the-board raise and covers a separate wage hike implemented this fiscal year and higher costs for employee insurance and pensions.

However, the budget also calls for a freeze on raises based on years of employment. In addition, some city employees will shoulder a portion of higher health insurance costs. Coverage decreases include higher co-pay rates, higher deductibles and out-of-pocket limits.

The adjustments, which will take effect Oct. 1, are a result of the amount of claims filed from year to year with the insurance provider, Nivens said.

“Even though we had to reduce our benefits coupled with a rate increase, we’re still one of the best health insurance plans amongst the other cities,” O’Leary said.

To fund some of those personnel costs, spending in other categories, such as equipment replacement, was cut 12.7 percent, O’Leary said.

Despite the cuts, day-to-day costs are projected to rise 2.9 percent, to $27.5 million, and the total budget will grow 2.4 percent, to $67.2 million, the lowest spending increase in the last 10 years, O’Leary said.

The survey presented Tuesday was initiated by the council’s request to look into salaries of public safety employees. Other positions were included to provide a basis for comparison.

Market demand for other positions in the city, such as engineers grow faster than others, O’Leary said. To stay competitive, “we’ve got to understand that certain jobs change at a different rate,” he said.

The cities surveyed are Allen, Bedford, Burleson, Colleyville, Coppell, Euless, Farmers Branch, Flower Mound, Grapevine, Haltom City, Hurst, North Richland Hills and Southlake.

The council is expected to vote on the budget following another workshop on Tuesday.

Two public hearings on the property tax rate, required under state law, have been held, but there were no comments.

The council must set the tax rate and adopt the budget before Oct. 1, when the new fiscal year begins.