Beau Yarbrough
San Bernardino County Sun
SAN BERNARDINO, Calif. — San Bernardino County Fire Protection District EMS providers and Sheriff’s Department deputies are getting raises.
The San Bernardino County Board of Supervisors approved the raises by a 4-0 vote without discussion at its July 12 meeting. Supervisor Dawn Rowe was absent.
In a deal worked out between the county fire district and the firefighters’ union, the county will pay employees in the Ambulance Operators Unit an extra 4% as of July 30. That will be followed by a 3% raise on Feb. 25, 2023 and another 3% raise starting Feb. 24, 2024. The new agreement also adds two more steps to the salary cap for EMS providers.
The county estimates this will cost an extra $425,000 this fiscal year, another $880,000 in the 2023-24 fiscal year and $1,141,000 more every fiscal year after that.
And in a deal worked out with the Sheriff’s Employees’ Benefit Association, the county will pay employees in the Safety Unit, along with the Safety Management and Supervisory Unit, an additional 1% starting on July 30. There will be another 1% raise on July 29, 2023 and a 3% raise on July 27, 2024. The county also agreed to increase the premium subsidy for those employees’ medical insurance.
The Safety Unit and its managers include all sworn officers, from deputies to lieutenants.
The county estimates these increases will cost an additional $9.7 million this fiscal year, another $14 million in the 2023-24 fiscal year, and $25 million more in the 2024-25 fiscal year, then $28 million each year after that.
The covered Sheriff’s Department employees will also receive COVID-19 premium bonus pay, which the county plans to pay for with federal COVID relief funds through the American Rescue Plan Act.
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