The Select Board and the fire chief took a look at stipends for firefighters this week, to determine if the current system is efficient.
New Ipswich pays its firefighters based both on their training level and the amount of participation in the department. The fire chief and deputy chiefs are the only members to receive a flat yearly fee – $10,000 for the chief and $4,000 for the deputies.
The rest have a cap – ranging from up to $1,000 for non-certified firefighters, between $1,200 to $1,750 for firefighters depending on their level of training, to $2,000 for fire lieutenants and $2,500 for fire captains – that they can reach by attending department meetings and trainings as well as responding to calls.
It is typical, said Lund, for firefighters to either earn all or nearly all of their stipend, or very little to none of it. Positions such as fire wardens or firefighters that stand on call for mutual aid situations may get additional payments based on those duties.
Lund said how stipends are calculated is one of the items she has on her list to review during her first year in the position of fire chief.
In particular, she said, there are firefighters who occasionally assist in calls, but due to the formula, receive little to no compensation.
Lund said that she and the board will review the stipend system to determine if there is a simpler way to calculate it, as well as what pay schedule works best for all employees that receive stipends.
The fire department is paid twice a year, once on June 1 and once on Dec. 1, said Lund. One aspect of the stipend schedule that the department and Select Board will be looking at is considering streamlining all of the town’s stipend employee pay schedules, so that all of them are paid on the same dates, which is more efficient from an accounting perspective.