Sun Sentinel Palm Beach Edition
County sinks pay raise for its lifeguards
A plan to give Palm Beach County lifeguards a boost in pay and benefits failed to garner enough support to pass Tuesday.
Commissioners deadlocked 3-3 on awarding an 11.5 percent raise to lifeguards with emergency medical technician certification and supporting their efforts to secure better retirement benefits from the state.
Lifeguards have argued Palm Beach County is not keeping up with surrounding communities in pay and benefits, making it difficult to recruit and retain the best employees.
“These people risking their lives deserve this,” said Larry Russell, a lifeguard who has been leading the push for higher pay.
Russell said he wants the entire County Commission to vote on the issue. Commissioner Melissa McKinlay was absent for the vote, and her support could have ensured the measure’s passage. She could not be reached for comment Tuesday.
County Mayor Paulette Burdick, who voted against the measure, said she was open to increasing pay for the lifeguards, but she thought the state Legislature should decide whether to grant them better retirement benefits. Commissioners Steven Abrams and Hal Valeche joined in casting dissenting votes.
Palm Beach County Ocean Rescue, which has a staff of about 90, patrols beaches at county parks that stretch from Boca Raton to Tequesta.
The starting pay for a lifeguards with EMT certification would have increased from $15.73 an hour (about $32,700 a year) to about $17.54 an hour (about $36,480 a year). The maximum pay would have increased from $25.79 an hour (about $53,600 a year) to $28.76 an hour (about $59,800 a year).
The pay increase was estimated to cost $783,702 during the first full year of implementation, and the expense would “increase annually,” according to a county analysis.
That change would have made Palm Beach County more competitive with its neighbors. Martin County recently moved up its starting pay for lifeguards to $18.03. Fort Lauderdale starts its lifeguards at $17.60.
The county also would have agreed to support the lifeguards’ application to the state for what’s known as “special-risk status” for retirement benefits.
Law enforcement officers, firefighters, emergency medical technicians, corrections officers and other government employees in dangerous occupations are eligible to retire at a younger age and receive a boost to their pensions from the Florida Retirement System because they are granted special-risk status.
But the state doesn’t consider lifeguards to be in a special-risk occupation, even though many have been certified as emergency medical technicians.
Some agencies, though, have been able to obtain the status for lifeguards who perform EMT duties. In its list of legislative priorities, the county is planning to lobby state legislators to change the law to give lifeguards better benefits.