Raleigh’s annual budget, which the city council passed unanimously Monday, checks a lot of boxes. It funds staff pay raises, parks, infrastructure, and affordable housing. It doesn’t increase property taxes. But one wishlist item that didn’t make the cut is separation allowance for firefighters—the temporary retirement benefit Raleigh firefighters have been asking for for years.
After a recent compensation study showed the City of Raleigh underpays its employees compared to peer cities, city manager Marchell Adams David and the city council prioritized competitive staff pay raises in the FY26 budget. Firefighters are set to receive 11 percent raises next year, which will bring their starting salary up to a nationally-competitive $56,825.
At a Monday budget meeting, city staff told the council that in order to fund a separation allowance, firefighters would have to accept only a 2.2 percent raise. Staff also presented a survey conducted by the HR department in which a two-thirds majority of uniformed fire department employees said they would rather get the raise than the separation allowance.
Funding both wasn’t considered as an option, since the city is budgeting conservatively in an uncertain economy and was unwilling to raise new revenue through a property tax increase.
In the past, Raleigh firefighters including Fire Chief Herbert Griffin have explained that they want a separation allowance because their job is unusually dangerous. Nationwide, firefighters have a 14 percent higher risk of dying from cancer than the general population, according to the Firefighter Cancer Support Network. In Raleigh, they’ve submitted 230 workplace first-aid and injury claims since 2022—the third-highest rate of any city department, behind the police department and solid waste services.
(By state law, Raleigh police have received separation allowance since 1987. No other city workers currently receive the benefit.)
“We are deeply disappointed at the lack of action by the City Council and Manager in not funding separation allowance for our firefighters,” Andrew Davis, president of the Raleigh Professional Firefighters’ Association, told INDY in an email.
The RPFFA has been leading the charge on separation allowance and also endorsed three-quarters of the sitting city council in the last election cycle.
“While 11% raises for our first responders seems like prioritization, please understand this is only to get us in line with our peers—meaning we had fallen way behind—and does nothing to put us ahead,” Davis wrote. “For over a decade now the Fire Department has been stagnant in hiring new positions. Simply getting us in line with our peers does nothing to recruit and retain firefighters who can still go to other municipalities and attain equal if not greater compensation and benefits.”
Davis added that he is “optimistic” the city council will reconsider separation allowance next budget season.
Mitchell Silver, one of the RPFFA-endorsed council members, said on Monday that voting not to fund separation allowance was “the most challenging decision I’ve had to make as a council member.”
“I would encourage the city manager to continue exploring opportunities to acknowledge the risk associated with firefighting, and I trust you will bring us something in the near future that could be considered for implementation,” Silver said.
“I continue to support the benefit,” agreed council member Megan Patton (who the RPFFA also supported in 2024), but “it’s clear … the path forward is not there.”
Despite there being no perfect solution on the table for firefighters, the city council seemed pleased with the budget overall.
“It’s a budget that’s pretty easy to support, in that there’s no tax increase,” mayor Janet Cowell said.
Chloe Courtney Bohl is a Report for America corps member. Follow her on Bluesky or reach her at [email protected]. Comment on this story at [email protected].