MARIETTA, Ga. — This week, the City of Marietta approved a 7% salary increase for first responders. A Marietta firefighter who spoke anonymously with 11Alive says that raise is not enough.
“In the past 22 months, we have lost 22 people," he said. "We’re about to lose two more senior engineers to Sandy Springs this month. Not only are we losing qualified people, but we’re losing the experience. We’ll be losing over 20 years of experience between the two."
He says many of them, especially those who have worked for the city for long periods of time, are still frustrated with what he says are significantly lower salaries compared to neighboring cities.
Those salary concerns within the fire department are similar to those at the Marietta Police Department.
While the city just approved that 7% salary raise for first responders, neither agency pays employees based on years of service. Instead, first responders get the same percentage raise across the board.
"Throughout the years they made bump ups for starting pay to get people through the doors but they didn’t bump everybody else up according with it. So you have (five-year) guys who are making within $1,000 or $2,000 to brand new people who can’t even ride a truck," he added.
He says that 7% raise won't reflect his more than 10 years of service for Marietta.
“I think it’s like a 15% (raise) to make it actually equitable to other departments. People throw out the percentages, and they're like, 'Oh! They got 7%.' But that's only $4,200 a year for me. It's going to be $80 per paycheck before taxes," he said.
Last week, 11Alive spoke with the wife of a Marietta police officer who said her husband has been with the police department for more than 20 years and was getting paid less than surrounding agencies. She also mentioned newer officers were close to getting to their current salary.
11Alive mapped out what other police departments in the area are offering as base pay for certified officers.
This is what we found:
Sandy Springs Police Department: $65,021
Woodstock Police Department: $54,178
Acworth Police Department: $53,127
Atlanta Police Department: $52,865
Smyrna Police Department: $50,895
Marietta Police Department: $48,817
The firefighter believes incorporating a stepping grade pay scale is the proper solution.
“The stability of the stepping grade pay scale is that if I want to stay with Marietta for another five years, I can see what I can make in those five years, versus right now the only raises are 3% and that doesn't even cover cost of living," he added.
In the city council meeting this week, the city explained that while salaries may be different in other areas, there are hidden benefits to working for Marietta.
"One thing that’s important too is the pension has a 2.1% multiplier, which is double what is offered by Cobb," one person in the meeting said. "What I mean by that is that if somebody has a similar salary at both locations, they’re going to take twice as much if they were to retire from Marietta than if they were to retire from Cobb."
The firefighter says that is not enough nor justifiable.
11Alive contacted the city multiple times for a sit-down interview or statement and has yet to hear back.