By the Daily Post staff
Palo Alto firefighters, battalion chiefs and police lieutenants and captains are getting a raise as a result of an 8-1 vote of City Council last night (Oct. 1).
Councilman Greg Tanaka voted against the new labor contracts, saying they increase pay at two to three times the rate the city’s revenues are growing, forcing the city to dig into its reserves.
Eighty-eight firefighters and four battalion chiefs will get a 5.5% raise immediately followed by 3% raises in each of the next two years. At the end of the three-year contract, a fire captain paramedic EMT will make $175,635 not including overtime.
For the seven police positions, annual raises will range from 1% to 4%.
