By james art The sun had barely risen when firefighters stood at the intersection of Old Hammond Road and Airline Highway in Baton Rouge. They held signs and wore their standard gear and helmets, trying to attract the attention of passers-by.
Firefighters in East Baton Rouge Parish currently earn a starting salary of $33,207 a year — about 20 percent less than Louisiana’s industry standard of $40,000; this is the bottom of the pay scale for a qualifying state the 49th in the nation for firefighter compensation. Before November 5, they are asking residents for help.
“$33,000 to be a professional firefighter is not enough to live on,” said Jake Morgan, the 33-year-old president of the East Baton Rouge Firefighters Association.
Morgan, who does home inspections on his days off, says it’s no secret that firefighters work in multiple locations. Many of his colleagues are in construction or similar blue-collar jobs, and a handful sell insurance. But for a job that requires ten 24-hour shifts a month, Morgan says the caliber of wages in East Baton Rouge turns staff away.
Here’s what you need to know before heading to the polls.
Last year, 15 to 20 firefighters left the department, mostly to seek higher-paying jobs in neighboring parishes. Morgan, who has been with the department since 2012, says this is the biggest year he’s seen for resignations.
“Our detention has never been worse,” added Dylan Bergeron, another firefighter holding a sign.
Bergeron works part-time at another department in Gonzalez to make ends meet.
“Guys, they come through, start out, work a little bit, then leave for a better paying job,” he said.
With 580 employees, Morgan says the fire department is currently only slightly understaffed and overtime could easily make up for the manpower shortage. But if employees continue to walk out, he says it could pose a threat to public safety.
“Because then you tire out your firefighters and they show up to work tired,” he said.
Other departments are also struggling with wages. For example, the police department’s starting salary of $36,000 a year is significantly lower than the $52,600 recommended in a recent Management Advisory Group report. The consulting firm’s study found that overall, East Baton Rouge parish employees earn far less than their counterparts in similar sized cities.
“Your salaries are terrible,” Senior Executive Councilor Russell Campbell said at a Metro Council meeting in September. “And I mean it well.” Bottomless.
If passed, the proposal would add 6 miles to the current speed of 5.86 miles. That means residents will pay an additional $50 per $100,000 of assessed property value.
“This money will be used solely for firefighter salaries and benefits,” Morgan said.
Asking voters to raise their own property taxes is not an ideal strategy, especially when two more similar proposals are in the ballot. In fact, Morgan says it was their last chance. The fire department hasn’t sought such support since 2000, when residents established the original flush rate of 6 mills — rolled back to 5.86 last month by the Metro Council. Although roughly 74 percent of firefighter pay comes from East Baton Rouge’s general fund, Morgan said additional funding from that source is not feasible. The parish is expected to lose about $50 million in sales tax revenue due to the creation of the city of St. George.
“We went around the city to try to find new funds to pay our firefighters,” Morgan said. “Now the city is focused on balancing a new budget.”
Firefighters worry that the ballot writing, which mentions nothing related to the East Baton Rouge Fire Department, will confuse voters. Here’s what it says:
City of Baton Rouge – 6 Mills – MC – 10 yrs.
“The title just gets in the way,” Morgan said. As a result, the 34-year-old Union President decided to hold media interviews and morning pickets on Airline Highway to raise awareness among voters.
“We are at the bottom,” he said, “don’t forget about us.”