The Winston-Salem city council approved a nearly $2 million compensation overhaul boosting salaries up to 9.5%

By John Deem
News & Record

WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. — Winston-Salem firefighters will see raises ranging from 4.3% to 9.5% beginning this month.

City council unanimously approved an overhauled pay and benefits plan on Monday that will add nearly $2 million in spending on the department’s personnel.

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That is the equivalent of about a half-cent on Winston-Salem’s municipal tax rate, City Manager Pat Pate said during a council discussion of the compensation changes last month.

That works out to about $1 a month for the owner of a median-valued home ($245,900) in Winston-Salem.

However, implementing the changes now means the city must find $500,000 that wasn’t budgeted for the current fiscal year, which ends June 30. The council voted to cover that cost by dipping into the city’s fund balance.

Perry Parrinello, president of Winston-Salem Professional Fire Fighters Association, called the changes “a small step in the right direction” for a department that has lagged behind peer cities in compensation.

“But,” he added, “we had to give up half our benefits for a small pay raise.”

Parrinello was referencing changes to the fire department’s vacation and sick time policies approved by the council last summer. Under the revised system, the city’s firefighters accrue 12 hours of time off for every 24-hour shift they work, rather than the previous hour-for-hour rate.

The new formula cuts sick time from 288 hours to 134 annually, while vacation is slashed from 240 hours to 112.

Those time-off totals more closely match those of other city employees.

A divided council approved the change in a 5-3 vote in August, with the condition that the city also complete a study comparing the Winston-Salem Fire Department’s pay and benefits to those at comparable North Carolina departments.

The report, by the Piedmont Triad Regional Council, found that average pay in Winston-Salem lagged behind comparable departments by 4% for firefighters, 2% for engineers, 1% for captains, and 5% for battalion chiefs.

Depending on position and experience, the new pay levels recommended in the study and approved by the council on Monday will be from 1% to 5% above the average for the other departments.

Here’s a look at changes by position:

Firefighter

Previous range $46,978 to $77,690.

New range: $51,000 to $$79,050

Engineer

Previous range: $57,103 to $94,433

New range: $61,991 to $96,086

Captain

Previous range: $76,522 to $126,549

New range: $87,227 to $135,202

In discussions about the pay changes last month, Mayor Pro Tem Denise Adams warned that the city’s property owners can expect a tax increase to cover the $2 million price tag of the new pay plan and other cost increases.

“Taxes are going up,” Adams, a Democrat who represents the city’s North Ward, said last month. “They’re going to always go up, and they’re going to go up more than what we’ve ever seen them.”

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