Council allows higher starting pay step to aid recruitment of lateral police and firefighters

The Tuscaloosa City Council approved an amendment to municipal code section 19-52 that lets the mayor authorize starting pay up to step 11 in the public-safety pay plan, a change staff said is intended to ease lateral recruitment for the police and fire departments.

Speaker 3 (city staff) explained the current code permits the mayor to authorize up to step 9 in the public-safety pay plan and up to step 12 in the non-public-safety plan. "Step 9 is $70,280.50," Speaker 3 said, "so we would increase it to step 11, which is $73,838.44," allowing the city to offer higher starting pay to experienced lateral transfers.

Staff described the city's lateral-hire process: candidates are vetted for certification and years of experience, may receive additional starting pay tied to experience, and go through training including a four-phase program and a field training officer (FTO) process that totals roughly 10 weeks. Staff said lateral transfers still must pass the city's use-of-force and training standards before integration.

Speaker 2 moved the ordinance amendment and the council approved it by voice vote. The staff presentation framed the change as a recruitment tool rather than a promise of expanded staffing numbers; specific budgetary offsets were not presented at the meeting.