Responder pay at forefront of Chattanooga city council budget discussion

CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. (WDEF)- The potential raises for Chattanooga police and firefighters was at the center of Chattanooga City Council budget discussions.

This year’s budget is projected to be $345 million dollars.

Mayor Tim Kelly’s Chief of Staff Kevin Roig says that Chattanooga police officers are paid over 20 percent less than comparable departments, while firefighters are paid over 30 percent less than comparable departments.

He says this is an annual funding gap of nearly 20 million dollars.

While non-sworn officers are set to get a three percent raise, sworn officers are set to get no raise.

He says that despite this need, there is not a desire to pass along this burden to taxpayers in the face of rising property values.

Councilman Cody Harvey added, “On one hand, you don’t want to  put this on the backs of the taxpayers, but on the other hand, we do want fire and police to have what they deserve after what we saw what they went through at fire ops the other day. They have a tough job and they deserve to be paid.”

The city council is required to pass a budget by the end of August, but could choose to pass a continuing resolution to extend the time to further discuss responder pay.