CLARKSVILLE, TN (CLARKSVILLE NOW) – Amid months of complaints about firefighter salaries – with starting rates at $44,000 – the Clarksville Public Safety Committee has approved recommending a pay study to find out how local salaries compare to similar and nearby communities. Firefighters are hoping the study results in a step pay plan to mirror competing public safety agencies in Tennessee.
The concept was previously discussed at a Clarksville Fire Fighters Association (IAFF Local 3180) rally that had called on the City Council to raise the starting salary for firefighters ahead of finalizing the 2025-26 fiscal year budget. While firefighters, along with all other city employees, did receive a 2.5% wage increase in the new fiscal year budget, Jesse Snyder, president of 3180 Clarksville Fire Fighters Association, said it is still not enough for some firefighters to survive.
‘It seems like we’re kicking the can down the road’
Synder said the pay study isn’t ideally what firefighters wanted, due to a recent pay study actually taking place within the last couple of years. “There have already been pay studies done. We’re actually in the middle of a pay range right now that has room to move in it, but the council, the mayor and the chief aren’t willing to do anything within that range at this point,” he said. “It’s really frustrating because it seems like we’re kicking the can down the road.
“We’re out there supporting everybody every day. We try to do everything we can do to keep the community safe. The guys aren’t asking to get rich, they know that being a firefighter or public servant is not going to make them rich, but they want to be on a comparable rate with the other departments around us. We’ve lost several guys to different departments, and some have left because they cannot afford to live off what they are making,” Snyder said.
‘Our men and women are struggling at the lower ranks’
Snyder said it’s been suggested that firefighters take second jobs to make ends meet. “We’ve been told that we have 48 hours off to make up for money if we wanted to do that.”…