The Levelland City Council approved pay compensation adjustments for the Levelland Fire Department after considering the Firefighter Salary Study and 2026 Budget Impact Study this past Monday.
Adjustments will kick in with a two-step approach with initial changes being implemented on March 1 and remaining adjustments on Oct. 1.
City staff including ACM Justin Balderas, Max Fisher, Interim Fire Chief Patty Faulkner, Lance Edwards and Lt. Jake Madewell have been working on a salary study and review since late last summer. The review and analysis compared the LFD to comparable peer cities broken down into rank, certification and supplemental pay and other factors involving compensation that could affect competitive recruitment and retention of fire personnel.
According to the study, overall LFD was shown to be lagging in pay comparisons in certain fields.
The City of Levelland Fire Department operates as a combination department of 10 paid staff and 25 volunteers, serving a population of 12,500 across 825 miles and maintains an ISO Class 2 rating, which is an advantage compared to the peer average of 2.63, reflecting strong fire protection capabilities, providing strong fire protection which translates into cost savings through lower homeowner’s and renter’s insurance within the Class 2 territory.
To obtain a Class 1 rating would require additional staffing and improvements to the current firefighting apparatuses.
LFD under the restructuring rates, positions are organized as Chief, Captain, Lieutenant (two positions), Driver/Operator (three positions), Full-time Fireman (three positions) and Part-time Fireman (four positions), which the study says better aligns staffing with operational needs, supervisory responsibility and career progression.
The study compared LFD to Brownfield, Dumas, Borger, Sweetwater, Plainview, Wolfforth and Pampa, with Levelland near the middle in Department size and service area with a smaller staff than some. Analysis showed LFD having a larger service area, but smaller annual volume of 610 calls compared to peer departments, but near the call volume of other combination departments.
In comparing salary compensation, the study found the LFD entry-level fighter pay of $52,102 is slightly above the peer average by 1.92%. The firefighter (Captain) pay of $57,209 makes it 21% below peer cities; fighter (Chief) pay is $105,000 annually and 4.84% higher than neighboring departments, though some pay up to $120,000.
LFD maintains a volunteer force of 13 firefighters with the capacity to support up to 25. Volunteers currently receive a flat rate of $12 per call, which includes all incident responses, training events and drills, but does not differentiate for participation, call volume or retention commitment.
Levelland’s certification pay includes $50 a month for basic; $75 a month for intermediate; $125 a month for advanced; and $150 a month for master. LFD compensation is below thethe average in all certifications. average in all certifications.
The LFD supplemental pay compensation of $4 per month for year of service was consistent with Pampa, Dumas and Borger but below Wolfforth.
Peer cities also provided targeted pay opportunities, such as Dumas offering a sign-on and retention bonus of $3,000 and Plainview offering specialty pay for roles like arson investigator, instructor or fire inspector, as well a Pampa offering $75 a month for a an associate’s degree and $100 a month for bachelor’s degree, and Wolfforth offering $100 a month for an associate’s degree, $200 for a bachelor’s degree and $300 for a master’s degree.
Based on the salary study and discussions with the fire department, adjustments were recommended to ensure pay progression, improved recruitment and retention logic consistency, with the restructuring aligning classification levels with professional development expectations.
Under the current compensation structure at LFD, personnel costs are $943,265. The restructuring will increase costs to $1,036.686, representing an increase of 9.9%, with no changes to budgeted healthcare or benefits.
To offset the increased personnel costs, City Manager James Fisher said the City of Levelland has submitted an application for the federal Staffing for Adequate Fire and Emergency Response (SAFER) Grant, which, if awarded, would offset a significant portion of personnel costs associated with applicable positions. Under the SAFER program structure, the grant would reimburse up to 75% of eligible salary and benefit costs in the first year, followed by 25% in years two and three.
Any grant funding would materially reduce the City’s near-term financial impact and would be critical in supporting the addition of three driver/operator positions necessary to adequately staff a ladder truck apparatus and maintain effective fire suppression capabilities.