Pay raises the top issue as City budget is hammered out, plus City wants MC to pay for EMS & fire service

Pay raises the top issue as City budget is hammered out

By Randy Bell
Requests for significant pay raises for Clinton’s police officers and firefighters are driving the City’s budget discussions this year. And Clinton’s low crime rate and the cost of homeowner’s insurance may hang in the balance.

Police Chief Ford Hayman and Fire Chief Jeff Blackledge are both asking for across-the-board salary hikes of about $10,000 for their personnel, in an effort to convince those officers and firefighters not to leave for higher-paying jobs elsewhere.

“If you look around, the salaries are being driven upwards at every agency in the metro,” says Hayman. “I’m asking our Board for more money, because I’m trying to keep our officers.”
Hayman says current salaries put the Clinton Police Department (CPD) at a competitive disadvantage.

“One of our guys could go put on a new uniform [at another department] and make $10,000 to $15,000 more.”

The chief says even a pay raise short of $10,000 would put Clinton’s salaries closer what other departments are offering and that, combined with strong public support for the police in Clinton, might be enough to entice officers to stay.

“This is such a wonderful community,” Hayman says. “The citizens love us. They appreciate our efforts, and that translates to the officers. And they really enjoy that.”

Hayman points out that, with fifty-eight officers on the force, the police department has been able to keep the city’s crime rate low, even though Clinton’s next-door neighbor has earned the title of “the most violent city in America.”

Hayman says efforts to reign in crime in the heart of Jackson could help to send the numbers higher in Clinton, pushing lawbreakers in this direction. Capitol Police now cover a larger part of Jackson, and the state-funded department needs more officers to fill out its ranks, paying certified officers $10,000 to $12,000 more than Clinton currently offers.

If the temptation of more money lures officers away, Hayman says it could be a setback for crime-fighting efforts in Clinton. If there’s a significant number of departures, the chief says he would “have to start pulling services.”

CPD’s traffic division could be one of the casualties. Since being reintroduced in July of last year, there’s been a seventy-seven per cent increase in traffic stops and a sixty-six per cent increase in the number of citations issued in Clinton.

The chief says when passing motorists see those blue lights flashing, it gives them a feeling of security, knowing that officers are on the job. And he says the increased police visibility encourages criminals to go elsewhere.

While the Capitol Police currently have the most job openings, several other law enforcement agencies in the local area, including the Madison and Ridgeland police departments, are also potentially attractive destinations for Clinton officers as openings occur, because their pay is even higher than the Capitol Police.

Fire Chief Jeff Blackledge is facing a similar problem in trying to maintain a sufficient number of firefighters and says a substantial salary increase is needed for his department too.
“We’ll be happy with what we get, and we’ll make it work,” Blackledge says. “But the guys, they deserve [a pay raise].”

The chief says even the full $10,000 increase wouldn’t put Clinton on par with some of the other fire departments in the metro.

“But it’s a good step in the right direction,” Blackledge says.

With four fire stations, Blackledge needs a total of eighteen firefighters per shift.

“If we start losing people, when we get down to a certain point, then I will make a call to the aldermen saying, ‘what station do you want me to close?’ Then you’re going to start looking at insurance rates going up.”

Homeowners’ insurance is based partly on a community’s fire rating. The better the fire protection, the lower the rating and the premiums.

Clinton currently enjoys a Class 4 rating, but Blackledge says, if a station is shut down because of a lack of manpower, there would be an immediate impact, and the rating could climb to Class 5 or Class 6. A lower rating indicates that a community has better fire protection, response times and trained firefighters, and is less likely to experience property loss from fire. A lower rating can also lead to lower insurance rates for homeowners.

“I don’t want that,” he says. “We worked hard to get to [Class] 4.”

He says some of his firefighters are keeping a close eye on the City’s budget discussions. At the August 8 budget meeting, the chief told the mayor and aldermen, “They’re waiting to see what’s going to be given. If it’s not sufficient, they’re going to jump ship.”

Blackledge said asking for $10,000 might have been “far-fetched” but said, “We’re just trying to get in the same ballpark [as other fire departments], so we can play ball.”

City Clerk Jimmy Baldree says the requested salary increases for the police and fire departments would cost between $1.5 million and $2 million, including benefits.

“Unfortunately, revenue projections have not increased nearly that much,” Baldree noted. “Working with the chiefs, we have devised the basis of a plan which we feel will increase salaries to a competitive level. This plan is still a work in progress, so I am not ready to put any firm figures out there just yet. But we are all working hard to come up with the absolute best solution we can for our first responders.”

Initially, the City proposed a three per cent raise for all employees except department heads. Elected officials would also not see a salary increase.

A public hearing on the proposed budget and tax levy is scheduled for September 3 at 6 p.m. as part of the Board of Aldermen meeting, followed by a vote on the tax levy. A vote on the budget will take place at a special Board meeting on September 12 at noon.

City wants college to pay for fire service, EMS Calls

By Randy Bell

As Clinton leaders try to find money to give firefighters a significant pay raise, they’re taking another look Mississippi College.

Noting that, in other college towns in Mississippi, fire departments receive a financial supplement in lieu of property taxes, Clinton Fire Chief Jeff Blackledge suggested during a budget meeting August 8 that MC should contribute toward the cost of fire and emergency medical service calls on campus.

It’s not a new idea. In November of last year, Mayor Phil Fisher sent an email to MC President Blake Thompson and MC Chief Operating Officer and Chief Financial Officer Laura Jackson, asking the college to pay $30,000 annually for fire service protection, plus $80,000 for three to five years to help the City purchase a new ladder truck. With some of Clinton’s taller buildings located on campus, Fisher said MC would be “a major benefactor” of the ladder truck.

Last year, the Clinton Fire Department responded to eighty-three calls on campus, including five fire calls, sixty-two EMS calls and sixteen false alarms.

This year, through July, there have been three fire calls, eighteen EMS calls and eleven false alarms. The City estimates, based on figures supplied by the Federal Emergency Management Agency, that each fire call or false alarm costs an average of $1,082.48 for the use of fire department equipment and manpower. It says the average cost of an EMS call is $298.50.

Jackson says MC has taken the Mayor’s request under consideration.

“We are aware that a residential campus full of students will inevitably result in increased emergency calls to campus,” she says. “However, it should not be overlooked that these students and their families also bring thousands of tax dollars into the city every month.”

In Starkville, Fire Chief Charles Yarbrough says Mississippi State University has a contract with the city to contribute $700,000 annually for fire protection.

“It’s a great deal for us,” Yarbrough says.