RUTHERFORD COUNTY, Tenn. (WKRN) — The Rutherford County Safety Commission will present a request that would increase salaries for first responders.

The commission will request that $8.2 million be added to the county budget at a Thursday Budget, Finance & Investment meeting. The proposal was first introduced by County Commissioner Jonathan Beverly after a January pay study.

“This is a core government function to say when somebody calls 911, qualified folks show up that are not overworked and underpaid that are willing to help," Beverly said at a Public Safety Commission meeting last week. "I think we have the opportunity to help them.”

The pay study found that of departments in surrounding counties, Rutherford County paramedics, firefighters and detention deputies received the third lowest salary.

However, one fear is that leaders could train people to fill these positions only to see them transfer later in their careers.

“I serve on a committee with the chief of the Franklin Police Department and they were able to calculate [that] every amount of turnover costs their city about $100,000 per officer to get a new person in there — whether it be the cost of supplies [or] overtime to cover that person's loss,” Beverly said.

Beverly’s point was well-received. The Public Safety Commission voted unanimously to move forward with the proposal.

“At the end of the day, those individuals — they work here, they play here and they take care of us all, so I would make the motion to send this on recommendation, per Commissioner Beverly's comments,” District 19 Commissioner Romel McMurry said. 

Currently, the Rutherford County mayor's proposed budget would bring first responders' pay to about the 50th percentile when compared to the pay of surrounding departments. The $8.2 million addition would bring their pay closer to the 70^th percentile.  

News Source : https://www.wkrn.com/news/local-news/first-responder-pay-raise-proposal-rutherford-co/