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Fernandina Beach firefighters receive pay raise

NASSAU COUNTY, Fla. — The men and women who put their lives on the line to protect others will get a pay raise with the Fernandina Beach Fire Department.

Through the renegotiation of their current merit payment system, Fire Chief Ty Silcox told Action News Jax all personnel will receive a 4% pay increase.

“The 4% that our firefighters are getting was an MOU,” Silcox said. “It was to extend our current contract that we have with our firefighters. Our current contract has a merit pay scale of 1%-6% based on the employee’s evaluation. We elected to do an MOU with our collective bargaining group to make sure that we could work on a different type of pay scale that we’re looking at going to in the future.”

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Silcox said this will include all 35 personnel for the next two years, which includes all firefighters, EMT, and paramedics.

The minimal annual salary for a Fernandina Beach firefighter, EMT and FF, or paramedic starts at $33,594. Firefighters are listed as non-exempt (hourly) employees and their annual compensation varies on hours worked.

The starting salary for Nassau County firefighters is an average of $34,660; St. Johns County starts with approximately $37,923; and Duval County has a $40,524 base salary as of October 1.

The Fernandina Beach Fire Department is also receiving nearly $195,000 more from the city this fiscal year.

According to the 2019-2020 proposed budget, the fire department will receive $3,993,942 in this fiscal year. The police department will receive $4,974,872.

Silcox said they have plans to replace some expired equipment, including a new fire engine.

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