The Tucson City Council is mulling a request from the Tucson Fire Fighters Association for $3.7 million in additional funding that would be used primarily to hire new firefighters and offer better pay for its more experienced members.
Firefighters are leaving the Tucson Fire Department for communities where they are being offered better pay, fewer calls and guaranteed raises in the future, says the union representing Tucson firefighters.
It is a looming public safety crisis, warns Josh Campbell, president of the Tucson Fire Fighters Association.
The Fire Department, which is funded at $125 million in the current fiscal year, has lost about 10 percent of its staffing in the last year while the volume of 911 calls has steadily increased to nearly 94,000 calls annually, Campbell said.
The union made the decision earlier this year not to submit its funding request to City Manager Mike Ortega, instead focusing on lobbying the City Council directly.
The budget proposal from the city manager for the next fiscal cycle, Campbell argues, contains the do-more-with-less mentality and has no significant changes for the department.
A 34-page memo authored primarily by Ortega and his staff doesn’t directly address funding for the department, although it calls for a 2.5 percent raise for nearly all city employees.
Ortega does address salary compression — a chief complaint from the union — by saying that there have been salary adjustments over the past 15 years, just not merit or raises based on longevity within the organization.
“Wage stagnation is a big problem for our organization and can only be addressed in the long term through methodical steps. To that end, I am recommending the 2.5 percent salary increase be for permanent employees who have been with the City for two or more years,” Ortega wrote.
The city manager asked for the council’s permission to develop an employee retention program but offered only a broad outline for all employees and a more tailored plan for the Police Department.
More than a week ago, the Tucson Police Officer’s Association warned the City Council that staffing had dipped below 800, going public with their multi-million dollar request for additional funding.
Staffing is even lower in the Fire Department, according to Campbell, where the latest count is 614.
Ortega also floated the possibility that the city could pursue the creation of fire districts to directly fund the department to offset funding from the general fund.
The memo does not contain enough information to discern whether that would directly correlate into more funding for the Fire Department.
The union says Ortega’s plan doesn’t go far enough. It says the department is shrinking while the city is growing.
And salary compression is a large part of the issue, with newer hires leaving for other agencies.
Because firefighters have not had raises in 10 years, a captain with 10 years of experience has a similar salary to a captain hired a year ago, Campbell said.
The median take home-pay for Tucson firefighters, according to a Star analysis of city payroll records, is approximately $71,000.
Nearby agencies, by comparison, are offering year-over-year raises to new recruits.
“They are offering two or two-and-half percent annually,” Campbell said.
The older, more experienced firefighters inside TFD have fewer options, explains Campbell, because they are less likely to start over in a new agency.
In Arizona, firefighters can’t transfer with the same standing from one agency to another like police officers can.
Firefighters transferring from Tucson to another agency in the state would have to return to an academy then start at the new department’s lowest rung.
Those still working at TFD are overworked, Campbell says.
Tucson averages 152 calls per firefighter, exceeding the figure of 100 calls that is recommended by the national union representing professional firefighters.
And that stress has taken a toll on firefighters in the form of PTSD, sleep problems, substance abuse and weakened immune systems, says Campbell.
Pay raises are among the issues the City Council is expected to discuss Tuesday during a budget retreat in downtown Tucson.
