Atlanta City Council members passed a $677 million dollar budget Monday that included a pay bump for the city’s firefighters. But, some say it’s not enough.
The budget includes a 3.1 percent increase for Atlanta firefighters, other fire rescue personnel and 911 dispatchers.
It builds on a similar increase approved last year for firefighters and police officers.
Nathan Bailey with the Atlanta Professional Fire Fighters Association said he’s grateful.
He said once the pay bump is implemented, the Atlanta fire department can become what he calls a “recruiting machine.”
“We can go out and get those prior experienced firefighters and instead of it taking 12 or 13 months, we can have them in the stations in 60 days, ” Bailey said. “And, Fire Chief Slaughter is on board with that. We can have our vacancies filled…possibly around the year, which would have been unheard of 12 months ago.”
But, some say while they appreciates the increase, it’s still not enough.