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Good morning, readers.
It’s budget season again and as part of their planning, the Raleigh City Council heard about the results of a citywide compensation study from an independent consulting group.
Across the board, council members learned, salaries for city workers are between 7 and 14 percent below the market average.
The council also heard from Raleigh’s Fire Chief, Herbert Griffin, about a way to incentivize firefighters to join and stay with the force. Recruitment and retention has been a problem for over a decade, and the fire department currently has 45 vacancies out of 632 positions in total.
The incentive is known as a separation allowance, a type of temporary retirement benefit that allows firefighters to retire after 30 years of service to the city—or at age 60 with 25 years of service to the city—and continue to receive a portion of their salary until they turn 62.
State law requires municipalities to offer a separation allowance to law enforcement officers and Raleigh police have received the benefit since 1987. Griffin told the council that while receiving a competitive salary is important to firefighters at the beginning of their careers, a separation allowance would make them more likely to stay in Raleigh later on.
The separation allowance for firefighters could cost the city $5.7 million to start out. Firefighters, who perform a dangerous job and are at increased risk of being diagnosed with cancer later in life, say the separation allowance is worth it and have been advocating for the benefit for years.
—Jane
Durham
Duke is implementing a hiring freeze and halting capital spending amid threats to federal funding, The Duke Chronicle reports.
Wake
The Trump administration has cancelled a grant program that recruited teachers to schools that needed them most, including some in Wake County. INDY’s Chloe Courtney Bohl explored what the cuts mean for one early career teacher now considering leaving her school.
Orange
UNC is betting big on football, transferring millions from other university funds, dropping $10 million per year on Bill Belichick’s salary alone, and raising the team’s budget by at least $8 million, our partners at The Assembly report.
North Carolina
Several North Carolina nonprofits that work on homelessness have received word this week that their federal grants have been unfrozen, but with rising need for services, uncertainty persists, NC Newsline reports.
Today’s weather
Cloudy with a high of 71 degrees.
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