The Wichita Eagle
SEDGWICK COUNTY, Kan. — A union representing Sedgwick County’s firefighters is criticizing the county for not addressing what it views as low wages for its firefighters.
Sedgwick County’s Fire District Number One serves residents outside Wichita in the county’s smaller cities and rural unincorporated areas. A collective bargaining agreement is being negotiated between the district and a local chapter of the International Association of Firefighters.
A neutral arbitrator recommended that the district raise wages across the board by 2.5 percent, as firefighters have requested, and unfreeze pay based on seniority.
The county says the district does not have the money to do that, an assertion rejected by the arbitrator and union. A meeting between the sides Monday failed to resolve the impasse.
The union says pay for the county’s firefighters has lagged behind pay for firefighters in city departments in Wichita, Topeka, Overland Park and Kansas City, Kan.
“They continue to fall behind their counterparts,” said Steve Bukarty, the union’s lawyer. “This disparity has got to stop or eventually you’re not going to be able to hire anybody.”
Pay gap
The average base salary for a fire district firefighter in the first year of service is $40,792, according to union documents. That’s in the middle of the pack of large fire departments in Kansas.
A gap does emerge later in a career. An average firefighter in the 11th year of service would earn $53,226 in the fire district but more than $70,000 in Overland Park or Johnson County. At the 20-year mark, the gap shrinks.
The union wants an across-the-board 2.5 percent pay increase, changes to step increases in pay and unfrozen longevity pay.
The five county commissioners serve as the governing body for the fire district, which has a different tax base.
The county says adopting the union’s request for higher pay would increase the department’s deficit “to a point where portions of programs may be shut down in 2019 and 2020.” Expenditures outpaced revenues in 2015, and a deficit of $1 million is projected in this budget year.
“Low revenue growth has challenged the fire district’s budget,” according to the county communications office. “The fire district considers it prudent to maintain an operating budget balance for future years.”
The county also said there have been step increases in pay based on years of service and passing an evaluation.
The step increases are one way a firefighter can get a pay raise. The firefighters criticize how other versions of pay, such as cost-of-living adjustments, have been frozen for years. There hasn’t been an across-the-board pay increase since 2011, according to the union.
Fact-finder’s report
Colleen White, the neutral fact-finder brought in by the district and union, rejected the county’s argument that it can’t pay higher wages. She cited “glaringly obvious” differences between budget estimates and actual budget figures, saying estimates were underweighing increases in revenue.
The Kansas Star Casino in Mulvane pays money to Sedgwick County for fire protection services. That money, or at least part of it, should go to the fire district “if no legal prohibition exists,” White said.
But the county says state law would need to explicitly allow the money from the casino to go to the fire district.
The union has a bargaining unit with 99 firefighters and lieutenants. About 120 of the district’s roughly 140 employees pay union dues, said Lt. Dave Thompson, president of Local No. 2612.
Thompson said it was “embarrassing” and “frustrating” that the fact-finder’s recommendations weren’t accepted.
“We’re not asking to be paid what Overland Park is paid,” Bukarty added. “All they’re asking for is to be treated a little more fairly.”
A public hearing regarding the fact-finder’s report is set for May 11 with commissioners, the fire district and the union.
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