Lawrence city commissioners on Tuesday voted 3-1 to end an impasse and approve raises for the firefighters union at the rate city staff members offered — less than the raises the union and an independent fact-finder had recommended.
Lawrence-Douglas County Fire Medical employees and City of Lawrence negotiators had agreed on most, but not all, aspects of the union’s 2026 contract. An impasse on wages reached the commission for a public hearing and final decision on Tuesday.
The city was proposing 3% raises across the board. International Association of Firefighters Local 1596, the firefighters union, sought 4.5% raises. The parties went to an independent fact-finder who heard arguments from both sides and made recommendations in the middle, including a 4.5% raise.
Megan Dodge, outgoing director of human resources for the city, and Seamus Albritton, president of IAFF Local 1596, presented their positions to the city commission on Tuesday. Commissioners also heard from some union members and a member of the public.
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IAFF said the city could afford to give union members 3.8% raises within the budget for 2026, but city staff members have voiced concerns about raising wages equally across the board. Alley Porter, budget and strategic initiatives manager with the city, said giving all city employees a raise of 3.8% next year would cost the city about $610,000.
Commissioner Bart Littlejohn said he would support the city’s recommendation of 3% wage increases for LDCFM employees. Mayor Mike Dever agreed.
“The fact-finder does not have fiduciary or financial concerns to be taken into consideration as it relates to being an elected official, or any budgetary constraints whatsoever,” Dever said. “… I’d love to have more money to give away, but unfortunately, since I’ve been on the commission, we’ve done nothing but have to cut.”
He said that’s “not any fun,” and the commission had hard decisions to make. He said he was sorry the union members probably felt that the 3% wage increase was not fair, and he didn’t want to commit any other commissioners to additional increases in the future.
Dever said the city is going to have to increase the mill levy to pay for construction of Fire Station No. 6, which is slated for West Sixth Street and Stoneridge Drive and estimated to cost about $13 million.
Dever, Littlejohn and Commissioner Lisa Larsen voted in favor of the city’s final offer, and Commissioner Amber Sellers was opposed. Vice Mayor Brad Finkeldei was not present for the meeting.
The city and the union had also disagreed over when step raises would be given.
In previous years, raises have taken effect on LDCFM employees’ hiring anniversaries. The fact-finder and the union said raises should take effect for everyone at once on Jan. 1 of the contract year, which the city said would cost an extra $113,000 in 2026.
Commissioners voted to move the annual pay increases to the first pay period of the year.
The agreement will come back to the commission for final approval at a future meeting.
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Mackenzie Clark (she/her), reporter/founder of The Lawrence Times, can be reached at mclark@lawrencekstimes.com. Read more of her work for the Times here. Check out her staff bio here.
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