Stafford County’s Board of Supervisors has approved a new pay plan for public safety personnel to make their jobs more competitive with other localities.
The new pay scale, which is similar to pay grades used in the military and civil service, takes effect July 1. When it kicks in, all sworn deputy sheriffs, emergency communications officers and firefighters will be designated in pay grades PS 1 through 26 according to their specialty, where PS stands for public safety. They will also be placed at a step level within their grade commensurate with their years of service and experience.
Grades define the pay for levels of responsibility and authority, while steps define the increments of pay within the grade.
For years, Stafford County’s first responders were paid through an “open range” pay system that was not as structured as the new grade and step system.