'Good news for Houston firefighters:' Houston City Council approves 18% pay increase for local firefighters

The Houston City Council has approved an 18% pay increase for local firefighters and Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner says it's about time. 

"Houston firefighters will be right there with every other major fire department in the State of Texas," Turner said in a video posted on Twitter. 

The pay increase will be for every rank in the fire departments and is expected to be rolled out over the next three fiscal years, including 2022, 2023 and 2024, as listed in the Click2Houston news article. 

The first 6% increase was set for this week, Click2Houston reported. 

"It passes. Good news for Houston Firefighters," said Mary Benton, communications director for Turner, on Twitter. 

The raise is meant to keep talent in the fire department instead of them moving elsewhere. 

A study showed that the Houston Fire Department was behind as far as pay for local firefighters in the market as explained by Houston Fire Chief Samuel Pena in a Click2Houston news article. 

The last time that the local firefighters received a pay raise was in 2014, as detailed in a press release from Mayor Turner's office. That pay raise amounted to 3%. 

The 18% pay increase will have a cost of $115.3 million over three fiscal years and it will bring first-year firefighter's salaries from $43,528 to over $51,000 per year, increasing over $8,000 per year, the press release details. 

"I have always said and believed that firefighters work very hard at protecting our community and deserve a pay raise that the city can afford," said Turner in a statement when he proposed the bill. 

The raise will bring the first-year firefighter's hourly pay rate from $17.92/hour to approximately 21.35/hour when fully implemented.

"We all want the best for our firefighters. Mayor Turner and his administration have been working hard on this issue, and now it's happened," said Pena in a press release from Mayor Turner's office. "This pay plan will help us be more competitive in our industry, help with retention and recruitment and allow us to continue funding all other obligations for a functional fire department. I am extremely grateful and appreciative of this plan."