Pay, ambulance top Marshall FD ‘wish list’
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Salary increases and a new ambulance are the major requests of the Marshall Fire Department as the city staff begins the budget process for 2010. “The Marshall Fire Department is requesting salary adjustments for all city employees in the 2010 budget,” said Fire Chief Kenneth “Buzz” Snyder. “The city has done a good job in bringing public safety employee salaries and benefits in line with other East Texas cities. However, it appears that city employee salaries are beginning to lag significantly behind other East Texas cities.”
Snyder said Marshall continues to lose firefighter/paramedics and law enforcement personnel to other cities and industries and recommended an annual survey to assure that salaries and benefits in those areas remain competitive with surrounding communities and cities of comparable size.
“Salaries and benefits are always important to our personnel and continued monitoring of what other area cities offer will keep our public safety departments strong, competitive and attractive to future candidates for employment,” he said.
A partially complete survey released by City Manager Frank Johnson during Tuesday morning’s budget workshop shows that personnel with the Marshall Fire Department rank in the “top three” insofar as pay is concerned among eight East Texas cities — Nacogdoches, Palestine, Paris, Denison, Texarkana, Longview, Tyler and Marshall.
Although Marshall ranks No. 3 behind Longview, however, the survey shows a nearly $8,000 gap in pay for local firefighters and pay for those in Longview. That gap widens as rank increases.
Johnson said the city is still waiting for responses from other East Texas communities and a completed comparison will be presented in the near future.
The department’s EMS Division is requesting $200,000 to purchase a two-ton ambulance, Snyder said. The cost will be paid off over six years at about $35,105 per year with payback beginning in 2011.
“Currently, it takes about six to nine months to build and deliver an ambulance from the time the order is placed,” Snyder said. “One of the six ambulances operated by the department has over 200,000 miles on it and three ambulances have over 100,000 miles (each) on them.”
Snyder said the EMS division uses the backup units frequently when its “frontline” units are being serviced, repaired or on long-distance, out-of-county transfers and when all units are on emergency calls and additional calls are received.
“It has become commonplace for all six ambulances to be in service at one time,” he said.
“Also, these units are used to provide ambulance services for ETBU football games, Marshall and Elysian Fields high school football games and numerous other special projects in the community.”
Snyder stressed to commissioners that the new ambulance will not impact the Emergency Services budget until the 2011 budget, adding that $10,928 in equipment will “pay off” during 2009 and an additional $31,701 in equipment will “pay off” during 2010.
Other budget requests for the fire department come from the Fire Suppression Division and include $30,850 in the “Other Equipment and Machinery” line item, a $19,150 decrease in that line item from the 2009 budget, according to the chief.
Those requests include:
$20,000 for the continuation of the Bunker Gear Replacement Program.
“The Texas Commission on Fire Protection adopted the 2007 (National Fire Protection Association standards) … to require fire departments to purchase, provide and maintain a complete ensemble of protective clothing that complies with current minimum standards of NFPA,” Snyder explained.
$2,500 for a fire service quality Ventilation Saw for rescue operations.
“This saw will replace a small residential chain saw currently on Engine 4,” the chief said.
$3,500 for the purchase of unmanned ground monitor nozzles.
“The department currently owns only one monitor nozzle and it’s about 25 years old,” Snyder said. “Newer, more modern monitor nozzles are more reliable and can be rapidly deployed when needed.”
$4,850 to purchase lawn care equipment for the new central fire station.
“Our current central fire station has very little lawn area and requires no lawn care equipment,” Snyder explained.
“However, our substations have large yards and the fire department provides the firefighters with the lawn care equipment to maintain these lawns.”
All requests were taken under advisement by the city commission which must, by state law, adopt a balanced budget before the end of September.
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