TAMPA — Hillsborough County firefighters will receive 29% salary boosts under the terms of a new three-year contract.
The raises, both merit step increases and cost-of-living adjustments, will bring starting pay for an entry-level firefighter from $46,300 to $55,386 over the life of the contract.
The deal covers the 1,089 positions covered by the International Association of Firefighters Local 2294. Union members ratified the agreement Aug. 30 with nearly 96% voting in favor of the pact, said Tim Pearson, union president.
A similar response is expected Thursday when Hillsborough County commissioners are scheduled to vote on the agreement. The settlement is part of their consent agenda in which dozens of routine items are approved in a single vote.
“Given the difficult economic and market conditions, and following over a year of detailed negotiations, we are pleased to have come to an agreement,” County Administrator Bonnie Wise said in a statement to the Tampa Bay Times.
The firefighters’ previous contract expired Sept. 30, 2021. Under the new agreement, firefighters will receive 8% in the current fiscal year that ends Sept. 30. They received a 3.5% step increase on their quarterly review date and will get an immediate 4.5% cost-of-living raise after ratification. In each of the two following fiscal years, the contract calls for 3.5% merit raises on Oct. 1 and 7% cost-of-living adjustments on April 1.
The contract runs through Sept. 30, 2024, and totals merit raises of 10.5% and cost-of-living increases of 18.5%. The first-year cost of the contract is $3.1 million above the 2021 fiscal year budget.
“We’re happy with it,” said Pearson. “We think we’re staying competitive with the other local departments. We don’t want to lose employees to other departments. We want to retain and recruit the best employees we can.”
The county contract follows on the heels of the city of Tampa reaching agreements in July with its firefighters, police officers and other unionized workers that called for 18.5% salary increases over the next three years, including 9.5% raises on Oct. 1.
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