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service, through policies like mandatory staffing rules. These <br />rules require a minimum number of firefighters to be on the clock <br />at any one time and end up requiring municipalities to <br />significantly increase wage costs through overtime <br />compensation. <br />Fire stations have the option of hiring more staff to fill vacant <br />positions, yet many departments choose to pay their current staff <br />overtime compensation to avoid the long-term costs of additional <br />training and pension payments for new firefighters. Paying <br />current firefighters higher wages does not necessarily translate to <br />better fire protection for local communities. <br />Union contracts also often stipulate that retiree benefits are <br />determined based on the employees’ last years of income, not <br />just their base salary. This lets employees spike their pensions <br />by adding supplemental income, such as overtime and cashing in <br />unused sick days. <br />Fire departments that primarily rely on volunteers do not have <br />any of these issues that raise the costs of services and force <br />some of those costs on future taxpayers. <br />I'm not saying this is the answer here, but let's put some real <br />effort into more cost-effective solutions. <br />Email not displaying correctly? View it in your browser.