SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Sacramento City Councilmembers praised the efforts of first responders Tuesday after closing a deal with two local unions to increase workers' salary ranges.
City officials also agreed to replace its current dual-role fire fighter model with a single-role Emergency Medical Technician program within the Sacramento Fire Department.
The two unions involved, Sacramento City Exempt Employees Association and Sacramento Area Firefighters Local 522, negotiated higher salaries for their employees through salary steps and schedules.
What the pay increase looks like
Sacramento City Exempt Employees Association represent not just the job classification of assistant fire chief—but police captains and lieutenants as well.
Their salary schedule has 12 steps of seniority, each step coming with higher pay and benefits as employees work up the ladder.
Under their latest agreement with city officials, three of the lowest seniority steps are now gone, while three additional steps have been added to the top of the salary schedule.
Workers in the initial steps will rise to the closest step that does not result in loss of wages.
Police captain salary:
- Previous lowest: $76.6K / Previous highest: $100.5K
- Revised lowest: $82.5K / Revised highest: $108.3K
Police lieutenant salary:
- Previous lowest: $66.6K / Previous highest: $87.4K
- Revised lowest: $71.7K / Revised highest: $97.1K
Assistant fire chief salary:
- Previous lowest: $71.6K / Previous highest: $93.9K
- Revised lowest: $77.1K / Revised highest: $101.2K
Sacramento Area Firefighters Local 522 workers saw a similar structure of pay increase—though they have five seniority steps rather than 12.
City officials agreed to add two steps to the salary schedule, bringing the total to seven steps. Classifications of workers Local 522 represent include:
Firefighter; Fire Engineer; Fire Captain; Fire Battalion Chief; Fire Investigator II; Fire Investigator I; Senior Fire Prevention Officer; Fire Prevention Officer II and Fire Prevention Officer I.
Click here for the full list of salary increases expected to come as a result of Tuesday's finalized agreement with the Sacramento City Council.
City officials like Councilmember Jeff Harris praised the agreement and its implementation of a single-role Emergency Medical Technician (EMT) program within the Sacramento Fire Department rather than a dual-role firefighter model.
A duel-role first responder performs two functions in providing emergency services, while a single-role EMT typically works alongside another first responder.
"We could have more efficiency and less cost with the way we deliver medical services," he said. "We could potentially bring more younger people into the public safety world."
Councilmember Angelique Ashby called the agreement brilliant, and said she commended Sacramento firefighters for learning from local single-role EMT programs before finalizing their own.
"A very progressive, forward thinking, thoughtful, open-minded fire department that's trying really hard to make themselves available to anyone who wants to work in the service of fire, and helping people in this city," she said.
The total additional costs to the city of Sacramento as a result of this new agreement is about $273,000 through the current year.
