NEW SMYRNA BEACH, Fla. – New Smyrna Beach firefighters are preparing to rally for higher pay before Tuesday night’s city commission meeting.
They say their salaries are among the lowest in Florida, which could soon affect emergency services for residents if no agreement is reached.
“Even working for a city like this for the almost past four years for me, I had to make the decision that’s best for me and my family and move onto a better career opportunity,” said firefighter Christian Huddleston.
News 6 caught up with Huddleston as he was leaving City Hall after his exit interview with the New Smyrna Beach Fire Department.
“I’m getting a big pay raise to leave — my pension contribution is going from 10 percent down to 3 percent,” he said.
He’s not alone.
“We have 32 percent of our department with active applications in with other departments,” said Brandon Carroll of the Local 2271 Fire Union.
The department had only three applicants in its last hiring round.
Carroll warns that without full staffing, some fire stations could be brownout, or temporarily close.
“Right now, our starting wage is $15.33 an hour. If you add that up, it’s about $44,600 a year, which is far less than most departments in the state,” he said.
The union’s proposal points out that New Smyrna EMTs make $4,000 to $15,000 less annually than those in departments firefighters are applying to.
They are asking for a pay matrix starting at least $18 an hour.
“We started negotiation talks back in December because we knew in July, they had to send the trim notice out for the mileage rate to budget for that, and basically they have yet to talk to us,” Carroll said.
The city manager told News 6 the current fire contract runs through Sept. 30 and there is still time to negotiate.
The statement said:
“The Fire Department is currently operating under a three-year contract that expires on September 30. Fire Department personnel are compensated according to the agreement negotiated with the fire union in 2022. We are now in discussions with the union regarding the terms of a new contract.
Public safety remains a top priority for the City Commission. We are committed to ensuring our public safety employees have the best equipment, state-of-the-art technology, exceptional training opportunities, a superior work environment, and competitive pay and benefits. In fact, nearly half of our entire general fund budget is dedicated to fire and police services.
We deeply value our public safety employees and will continue to provide the highest quality services possible for our community.”
New Smyrna’s request comes as other Central Florida cities increase pay or boost recruitment efforts.
Brevard County recently raised its fire assessment fee to pay firefighters more, as did Sanford. Kissimmee voted to change its shift schedule to attract recruits and raised a fire assessment fee to fund it.