YACHATS – The Yachats Rural Fire Protection District board has been unable to hold its first meeting of the year — and decide how to give firefighters enough of a raise to counteract inflation — for lack of a quorum Monday and earlier this month.
The five-member board discussed a cost-of-living increase for employees in December but asked for more information and put off a decision until January. They weighed a one-time bonus, a percentage increase or a combination of the two, which would be a fourth pay increase the past 13 months in an ongoing effort to be a competitive employer.
In December 2021, the fire district board approved a 6 percent cost-of-living wage increase to seven eligible employees, a raise the board routinely awards to match the previous year’s rate of inflation. The board voted seven months later to give a 4.9 percent, one-time bonus to seven employees – five firefighters, an assistant administrator and a part-time office assistant – based on their pay from December to May. The board also raised wages again in July — 8 percent for firefighters and 5 percent for assistant administrator Shelby Knife.
Board members agreed in December that an adjustment was called for to keep up with the nearly 9 percent rate of inflation. They were set to discuss the issue at their meeting Jan. 9 but came up one person shy of a quorum during a power outage that began earlier that morning.
On Monday, only one board member, treasurer Ed Hallahan, was at the fire station for its second scheduled meeting of the month. Knife noted one member had a family emergency and another had already said they would not be present.
The board is next scheduled to meet at 10:30 a.m. Feb. 13.