On-call Fraser Public Safety Department workers get pay bump

FRASER — Even though the budget is approved, some things still need to be adjusted.

At the Fraser City Council’s June 13 meeting, the city’s Public Safety Department got a pay increase in its on-call wages, altering the budget.

Fraser Director of Public Safety Samantha Kretzschmar advocated for the council to eliminate the $10-an-hour pay scale for workers who perform on-call work. The scale was for workers without a medical license. Their pay, and for those in training to be on-call, would now be $15 an hour.

“It’s well below what we think is a fair wage,” Kretzschmar said at the meeting.

Fraser paramedics would now receive $17 an hour for on-call work. For emergency callback time for personnel who respond, this would increase to $20 an hour. This is funded by taking $24,000 from the ambulance fund in the 2024-25 budget.

Mayor Pro Tem Dana Sutherland questioned whether those who had a pay increase from the initial $10 an hour would get a proportionate increase with the new raises.

“That’s not fair,” Sutherland said. “Personally, I think there should be an adjustment for those who were at $12.65 and have earned that increase.”

Kretzschmar said she understood the concern but felt that the flat increase was fair.

“We do think that this is a fair wage for them to be at based on the going rate around here, the way we do our system and the way the other paid-on-call departments work,” Kretzschmar said.

Councilman Kenny Perry Jr. also questioned the increases.

“It sounds like it’s too low for people who are putting their life on the line,” Perry said.

Kretzschmar pushed back, saying that most of the people in these positions have other sources of income.

“They want to be here to do this because they have a passion for it, a love for it. They want to do community service, they want to help out, they want to be part of the department, part of the team and everything we do here,” she said. “But it’s not their full-time thing.”

The increases were approved in two separate motions: one to approve the updated wages and one amending the city’s budget. Both were unanimously OK’d by the council.