Pay raises approved for IOP City employees: Firefighters, several council members, say increases not enough

This summer, IOP City employees will get some long-awaited pay raises, though not necessarily what they were wanting.

On April 28, city council members voted 6-3 to approve raises ranging from 1.5%-7.85%, beginning July 1 at the start of the city’s new fiscal year. The action came after months of discussion stemming from 2025.
The new annual pay rates include:

• Fire Department: $54,000
• Police Department: $60,000
• General (such as support): $41,600
• Administrative: $82,700

City staff also received a 5.5% increase on Jan. 1, 2026, totaling $281,000.

In addition, council approved a $150,000 incentive program, split evenly between the fire and police departments, that would compensate employees for specialized training and hopefully improve retention rates. “Totaling up these three adjustments over the course of the year, it’s an expense of $2.2 million,” said City Administrator Douglas Kerr.

While all council members favored the pay increases, several said the measure still falls too short, especially for firefighters. “It’s not robust enough,” said Councilman Rusty Streetman. “We talk about a million dollars in sand like it’s nothing, but then we talk about wages, like if you go over a certain amount and if you throw another million dollars out there for wages, we wring our hands.”

Councilman Jimmy Ward added, “I think it is way short of what we need to be doing. I support the raises – it just does not do enough.”

Previous compensation adjustments to public safety employees have included a $5,000 one-time payment in 2022 (applied to all employees); a 2.4% cost of living increase; and a 14% salary increase. The city also pays for 100% of employee medical cost, and 50% of the family or spouse.

But for years the pay issue has continued to have an adverse effect on the city’s ability to retain qualified public safety and first responders long-term. “Just this year alone, eight firefighters in our department have asked me to write letters of recommendation so they can apply to other departments,” said Fire Association President and Battalion Chief Jason Smith.

Councilmen David Cohen and Scott Pierce said that while police and fire rates do need to be revisited more regularly, this step is a good start.

“When talking with the chiefs, it seemed like they were not necessarily given the leeway to be able to hire into a higher step or a higher experienced level, and that was identified at least with some to be an extreme barrier to entry on being able to recruit people,” Pierce said. “So, I think we’ve eliminated that barrier.”

Mayor Phillip Pounds, who voted for the increases, pointed out that the city has to maintain a balance “when we’re spending $2.2 million in 12 months.” “That’s essentially three raises for folks over the course of a January to a January,” he said.

Smith had recommended starting firefighters at $25 an hour, but since that did not happen, his concern is how council arrived at the new numbers, and whether or not their decision will lead to more problems with recruitment and retention.

“But we think the incentive pay will at least be a step in the right direction,” he said.

By L. C. Leach III