Medford Firefighters Slated for 2013 Raises Following 21-Month Freeze

The proposed Medford Fire Department budget for 2013 includes about a 9 percent pay raise for most uniformed firefighters -- including the chief and four deputy chiefs.

The raises are result of a previously negotiated contract agreement between the city and the Medford firefighters' union. They mark the end of a 21-month pay freeze the union had previously agreed to with the city.

The Medford City Council reviewed the department's budget Wednesday night as part of its on-going preliminary review of the municipal budget.

Overall, the fire department's budget is slated to go up 5.5 percent, from $9.68 million in 2012 to $10.21 million, according to data from the city.

The budget funds a total staff of 114 firefighters. It also includes a line item that could potentially add eight additional firefighters at no cost to the city -- for now.

The department has applied for a grant through the Federal Emergency Management Agency that, if awarded, would pay for eight new firefighters for the next two years, Fire Chief Frank Giliberti said Wednesday.

If it won the grant, the city would be required to retain the new hirings beyond the two years they would be federally funded, Giliberti said. The city expects to learn whether they were awarded the grant by September, he said.

Members of the Local 1032, Medford's firefighters union, attended Wednesday's meeting to lobby for additional man power. The department is currently operating with only 107 firefighters, as opposed to the budgeted 114, and it has only four deputy chiefs when it used to have five, Firefighter Bob Jones said.

“He (the fifth deputy) is needed and I don’t understand why he is not funded again,” Jones said Wednesday.

Seven new firefighters are slated to join the department in October, bringing the total to 114, Giliberti said.

The personnel portion of the budget as presented is a 5.4 percent increase from last year, to $9.74 million. It includes an $10,902 raise for Giliberti, bringing his salary to $126,615. The raise is a result of the unfreezing of raises for union employees, as the chief's salary is based off the wage of the highest-salaried firefighter in the union. The budget also includes an increase in overtime budget. In 2012, $529,000 was budgeted for overtime, 2013 has $640,000 under the proposal.

Odds and Ends

The following line items are included in the expenses segment of the fire department's budget. None of these items are new to 2013:

• Postage, $600
• Laundry, $8,450
• Food, $150
• Clothing, $33,000