Amarillo First Responders Finally Getting What They Deserve
One of the things talked most about in Amarillo and Texas in general are the low salaries that teachers receive. I 100% agree with this statement as I feel they should be paid more for the work they do.
I bring up the teacher salaries because it's a topic that is discussed often when the subject of fair pay comes up. However, there is one that gets severely neglected, yet it's one of the most important lines of work out there.
I'm talking about our first responders. These people literally put their life on the line for us every...single...day. Truthfully, it should be one of the HIGHEST paying lines of work out there, and it's far from it.
Good news for the first responders of Amarillo though, that's all about to change.
In a city council meeting on Tuesday, September 17, 2024, officials approved a pretty significant pay raise for all of our first responders, and I have to applaud them for doing so.
I know several first responders here in Amarillo personally, and watching their work schedule alone is enough for me to want to give them a pay raise. I've seen them miss many of their children's activities because of work, and that is hard on them.
It's widely recognized that Amarillo isn't the safest city, and our first responders are busy responding to calls and keeping us safe. There are also a lot of older buildings here which means there is a greater risk of those buildings running into issues and catching fire.
Because of those factors, it can be hard to keep those first responders happy and working in Amarillo. Some will leave for different departments in another city, and recruiting people from other cities is difficult as well.
The pay raise will help with both of those things. The anticipated pay raise range will be between a 6-16% bump in salary. The higher rank you are, the lower the pay bump percentage. However, rank already comes with a higher salary, so it'll still be a significant bump.
The higher rate of pay raise will go to those with a lower rank or a new recruit. They'll receive somewhere in the range of a 16% bump which will be a significant bump in their check, and keep them around and happy for a much longer time.