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Compensation
Sources Of Challenge 9. Increasing Use of
Combination
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Departments 10. Higher Cost of
Housing (In
Affluent
Communities)
Contributing Factors
▪ Disagreements among chiefs or other department leaders ▪ Friction between volunteer and career members
▪ Volunteers cannot afford to live in the community they serve
11. Aging
Communities
▪ Greater number of older people today ▪ Lack of economic growth and jobs in some towns 12. Internal Conflict ▪ Disagreements among departmental leaders ▪ Friction between volunteer and career members
ESCI recommends that the Southington Fire Department make it a priority to not only recruit new members, but to also retain its existing volunteer members by researching programs and activities that will support current department’s efforts to recruit and retain volunteer firefighters.
Compensation
An agency’s ability to attract, hire, and retain personnel has a direct impact on its ability to provide the desired services effectively and efficiently. The Southington Fire Department is no different. Agencies should provide periodic reviews of current compensation structures, market competitiveness, and department compensation philosophies. These internal and external comparisons of equitable positions and workloads ensure the agency can attract and maintain an effective workforce.
Full-Time Firefighters
Salaries for Southington’s full-time career firefighters are set forth in Appendix A of the Contract18:
Figure 75. Appendix A: Salary Schedule Effective July 1, 2020 Through June 30, 2021
18 2018-2020 2021 Contract between the Town of Southington and IAFF Local 2033.
Volunteer Firefighters
The Southington Fire Department spends approximately $5,035 on each volunteer firefighter before they are certified to respond to emergency calls. Expenses include a medical evaluation, personal protective equipment, and Firefighter I Training. The detailed breakdown of these costs is listed below.
Figure 76. Cost of Onboarding a Firefighter
Description Cost
Medical Evaluation Bunker Gear Helmet Boots $500.00 $2,470.00 $315.00 $100.00
Radios
$500.00 Firefighter I $1,150.00
Total Initial Cost of Onboarding a Volunteer Firefighter: $5,035.00
Once a volunteer firefighter is trained, certified, and approved to respond to emergency calls, the Southington Fire Department offers a variety of stipends to encourage volunteer participation. Volunteer firefighter stipends are shown in the following figure.
Stipend Figure 77. Volunteer Firefighter Stipends Amount
Per-Call Reimbursement $7.95 for firefighters; $8.69 for fire officers
Instructor for Mandatory Training $18 for 1-4 hours; $36 for 4-8 hours; excludes meeting night training
Live Burn Training $50
CPR Training $30 upon successful completion EMT Recertification $50 per classroom day, upon successful completion
Fire Officer I $500 upon successful completion; one-time payment Fire Instructor I $250 upon successful completion; one-time payment Storm Watch $60 per shift; maximum of 8 hours per shift Officers Meeting $30 Fire Watch $60 per shift; maximum of 8 hours per shift
Stipend
Amount
401 (A) Plan • An annual budgeted amount is divided among the qualifying members and deposited into the 401 (A) Plan. • The exact amount is calculated annually based on the budgeted amount and the number of qualifying members approved by the Board of Fire Commissioners. • Eligibility for full share or a half share is based on a member’s call volume, their attendance at all mandatory training (all mandatory drills are required and a minimum call volume of 25% for a full share and 12.5-24% for a half share. • Members do not have access to this money until termination or retirement. • The plan’s investment schedule is: 2 years – 20%; 3 years – 40%; 5 years – 80%; 6 or more years – 100%. Tax Abatement Qualifications for the Tax Abatement mirror the 401(A) Plan. Eligible members receive a Tax Abatement of up to $2,000 for a full share and $1,000 for a half share. Retired members who served 25 years or more receive a Tax Abatement of $2,000 annually.
Fitness Membership Reimbursement annually after completion at a maximum rate of the current YMCA fee.
Life Insurance 24/7 Coverage Life Insurance –On Duty Coverage $20,000 life; $20,000 D&D
$25,000 for D&D; $2,500 for accidental medical expenses, $400 for 104 total weeks disability
Workers Compensation also provided through the Town’s Worker’s Compensation Carrier
Medical Insurance Available at the COBRA Rate
Heart and Hypertension Benefits Bonus Points for Entry-Level Career Firefighter Testing Volunteer firefighters who test for Entry-Level Career Firefighter Positions are eligible for up to 5 points to have added to their score to be calculated at a rate of 1 point per year of eligible completion.
In accordance with State Worker’s Compensation Laws
While the annual expense of an individual volunteer is less than the salary of a full-time employee, the costs of recruiting, retaining, or replacing multiple of volunteers annually possesses a cost that should be identified and evaluated. Recruiting fewer high performing volunteers who can be retained for several years is more cost effective than continually training, outfitting, and losing volunteers in high numbers in an attempt to maintain roster numbers seen in the past.
Based on the 2019 costs and numbers of calls, a new volunteer firefighter who responded to between 12.5 and 24% of the department’s calls for service cost the Southington Fire Department $321.36 per call. The cost is reduced to $271.15 per call if this same new firefighter responded to 25% or more of the department’s calls.
$330
$320
$310
$300
$290
$280
$270
$260
$250
$240 Figure 78. New Volunteer Firefighter Cost Vs. Participation; 2019
$321.36
Cost per call new FF 12.5% $271.15
Cost per call new FF 25%
The value of retaining volunteer firefighters is quantified when the cost per call of a new volunteer firefighter is compared to the cost per call of an existing volunteer firefighter. The cost of an existing firefighter in both the 12.5-24% and the 25% or more response category is 18.5% lower than the cost per call for a new firefighter in this same participation range. The existing firefighters also bring the value of experience.
