STEAMBOAT SPRINGS —Steamboat Springs city officials on Tuesday night will ask the City Council to find room in the 2013 budget for pay raises to firefighters and paramedics.
The city’s recent salary survey indicated those employees are the most underpaid when their salaries are compared to their counterparts working in several cities comparable to Steamboat. City officials estimate it will cost $192,717 annually to bring the salaries of those employees up to market value.
Deputy City Manager Deb Hinsvark said the raises will help the city retain staff members who are the most expensive to replace.
“It costs us on average $28,000 to rehire and retrain” a firefighter or a paramedic, Hinsvark said. “There’s an economic driver to go ahead and offer these raises. Our goal here is to protect our investment in our people.”
Read the rest of this .
