HomeMy WebLinkAboutOrdinance 27926-09-2025Ordinance No. 27926-09-2025 Page 1 of 4
ORDINANCE NO. 27926-09-2025
AN ORDINANCE APPROVING THE TOTAL NUMBER OF
AUTHORIZED CIVIL SERVICE POSITIONS IN THE FIRE
DEPARTMENT EFFECTIVE OCTOBER 1, 2025; PROVIDING A
STATEMENT OF PURPOSE AND INTENT; PROVIDING THAT THIS
ORDINANCE SHALL BE CUMULATIVE OF ALL PRIOR ORDINANCES
AND REPEAL CONFLICTING ORDINANCES; PROVIDING A
SEVERABILITY CLAUSE; AND PROVIDING AN EFFECTIVE DATE.
WHEREAS, Section 143.021(a), Texas Local Government Code provides that a
municipality’s governing body shall by ordinance (i) establish the classifications of fire fighters
and (ii) prescribe the number of positions in each classification; and
WHEREAS, on June 24, 2025, the City Council adopted Ordinance 27828-06-2025,
which established the Fire Department’s sworn personnel staffing levels, effective June 28, 2025,
as follows:
Initial May be
Adjusted to
Deputy EMS Officer 2 2
EMS Administration Officer 1 1
EMS Manager 6 6
EMS Supervisor 30 30
Lead Paramedic 189 137
Emergency Medical Technician (EMT) 276 328
Telecommunications Manager 1 1
Telecommunications Supervisor 7 7
Telecommunicator 31 31
Fire Assistant Chief 3 3
Fire Deputy Chief 6 6
Fire Battalion Chief 30 30
Fire Captain 92 92
Fire Lieutenant 143 143
Fire Engineer 228 228
Fire Fighter 565 565
Total 1610 1610
with 18 of the positions in the classification of Fire Fighter intended to be temporary in order to
accommodate the graduates of Class 99 (Ordinance 27827-06-2025) and with the Fire Chief being
authorized, in accordance with Section 143.307(a) of the Texas Local Government Code and the
Ordinance No. 27926-09-2025 Page 2 of 4
current collective bargaining agreement as modified by memoranda of agreement, to make
adjustments among those classifications noted in the “May be Adjusted to” column provided that
such adjustments may not result in (i) the total number of authorized positions in the classification
of Lead Paramedic being less than the number in the “May be Adjusted to” column, (ii) the total
number of authorized positions in the classification of Emergency Medical Technician
classification being greater than the number in that column, or (iii) the cumulative total number of
authorized positions among all classifications of civil service personnel within the department
differing from the “Total” shown in the “May be Adjusted to” column; and
WHEREAS, the Fire Chief has advised the City Council that sufficient attrition and
movement have occurred and the eighteen ‘overage’ Fire Fighter positions are no longer needed
and requests the City Council adopt an updated staffing ordinance for fiscal year 2026 to delete
those positions and otherwise continue current levels, to reflect the Civil Service staffing included
in the Fiscal Year 2026 Budget, and thereafter prescribe the number of authorized civil service
positions in the Fire Department to conform with the proposed changes as set forth below in order
to effect efficient economy of the operations of the Fire Department.
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT ORDAINED BY THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY
OF FORT WORTH, TEXAS THAT:
SECTION 1.
Following the formal adoption of this ordinance, the following positions shall be the only
civil service positions in each classification (rank) authorized in the City of Fort Worth Fire
Department effective October 1, 2025, until modified by subsequent ordinance:
Initial May be
Adjusted
to (see
Section 2)
Deputy EMS Officer 2 2
EMS Administration Officer 1 1
EMS Manager 6 6
EMS Supervisor 30 30
Lead Paramedic 181 137
Emergency Medical Technician (EMT) 284 328
Telecommunications Manager 1 1
Ordinance No. 27926-09-2025 Page 3 of 4
Telecommunications Supervisor 7 7
Telecommunicator 31 31
Fire Assistant Chief 3 3
Fire Deputy Chief 6 6
Fire Battalion Chief 30 30
Fire Captain 92 92
Fire Lieutenant 143 143
Fire Engineer 228 228
Fire Fighter 547 547
Total 1592 1592
SECTION 2.
That, in accordance with Section 143.307(a) of the Texas Local Government Code, the
Fire Chief is authorized to make adjustments among those classifications noted in the “May be
Adjusted to” column in Section 1, provided that such adjustments may not result in (i) the total
number of authorized positions in the classification of Lead Paramedic being less than the
number in the “May be Adjusted to” column, (ii) the total number of authorized positions in the
classification of Emergency Medical Technician classification being greater than the number in
that column, or (iii) the cumulative total number of authorized positions among all classifications
of civil service personnel within the department differing from the “Total” shown in the “May
be Adjusted to” column.
SECTION 3.
The “Mayor and Council Communication” memorandum, which is presented
contemporaneously with this ordinance, is hereby expressly incorporated herein by reference
for further clarification and explanation of the purpose and intent of the City Council in its
adoption of this ordinance as well as the Department in its implementation.
SECTION 4.
This ordinance shall be cumulative of all provisions of previous ordinances and of the
Code of the City of Fort Worth, Texas (2015), as amended, except where the provisions of this
ordinance are in direct conflict with the provisions of prior fire staffing ordinances for the
Fire Department and such Code, in which event conflicting provisions of such ordinances and
such code provisions are hereby repealed and this ordinance shall be controlling.
Ordinance No. 27926-09-2025 Page 4 of 4
SECTION 5.
It is hereby declared to be the intention of the City Council that the sections, paragraphs,
sentences, clauses and phrases of these ordinances are severable, and if any phrase, clause,
sentence, paragraph or section of this ordinance shall be declared unconstitutional by the valid
judgment or decree of any court of competent jurisdiction, such unconstitutionality shall not
affect any of the remaining phrases, clauses, sentences, paragraphs and sections of this
ordinance, since the same would have been enacted by the City Council without the
incorporation in this ordinance of any such unconstitutional phrase, clause, sentence, paragraph
or section.
SECTION 6.
The classifications and numbers prescribed by this ordinance shall take effect and be in full force
and effect as of October 1, 2025, and it is so ordained.
APPROVED AS TO FORM AND LEGALITY: ATTEST:
____________________________________________________________________
Denis C. McElroy, Asst. City Attorney Jannette S. Goodall, City Secretary
ADOPTED: September 16, 2025
EFFECTIVE: October 1, 2025
City of Fort Worth, Texas
Mayor and Council Communication
DATE: 09/16/25 M&C FILE NUMBER: M&C 25-0811
LOG NAME: 03FIRE STAFFING & SALARY ORDINANCE
SUBJECT
(ALL) Adopt Ordinances Prescribing Civil Service Staffing Levels and Salaries for the Fire Department Effective October 1, 2025
RECOMMENDATION:
It is recommended that the City Council:
1. Adopt the attached ordinance to reflect the civil service staffing level in the Fire Department effective October 1, 2025; and
2. Adopt the attached ordinance prescribing the salaries for all civil service personnel in the Fire Department effective October 1, 2025.
DISCUSSION:
The purpose of this Mayor and Council Communication (M&C) and the attached ordinances is to take actions associated with the Fiscal Year (FY)
2026 Budget for the Fire Department.
Staffing Ordinance
Adoption of the first ordinance will approve the civil service staffing level in the Fire Department for the coming fiscal year. In June the City Council
adopted a staffing ordinance (Ordinance No. 27827-06-2025) to add eighteen Firefighter positions on a temporary, overage basis to
accommodate new graduates from Class 99 of the Fire Academy when attrition and promotions had not occured as projected. Since that time
sufficient attrition and movement has occurred, and adoption of the first attached ordinance will formally return the staffing level at the Firefighter
classification back to 547.
As of October 1, 2025, civil service staffing will consist of the following:
Classification (Rank) Current Changes Initial May be
in Today's FY2026 Adjusted
Authorized Ordinance Authorized to
Strength Strength
Deputy EMS Officer
2
2
2
EMS Administration Officer
1
1
1
EMS Manager
6
6
6
EMS Supervisor
30
30
30
Lead Paramedic"
189
-8 181
137
Emergency Medical Technician
276
+8 284
328
(EMT)"
Telecommunications Manager
1
1
1
Telecommunications Supervisor
7
7
7
Telecommunicator
31
31
31
EMS Subtotal 543 0 543 543
Fire Assistant Chief
Fire Deputy Chief
6
6
6
Fire Battalion Chief
30
30
30
Fire Captain
92
92
92
Fire Lieutenant
143
143
143
Fire Engineer
228
228
228
Fire Fighter
565
-18 547
547
Fire Subtotal
1067
-18 1049
1049
Total
1610
-18 1592
1592
* Per the Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) between the City of Fort Worth and the Fort Worth Professional Firefighters Association, IAFF
Local 440, as amended by the Memorandum of Understanding, the Fire Chief is authorized to "set or prescribe the number of EMTs, Lead
Paramedics, EMS Supervisors, EMS Managers, and EMS Administration Officers, Telecommunicators, Telecommunications Supervisors, or
Telecommunications Managers in each classification."
This provision was included to offer an efficient mechanism for addressing the fact that the personnel coming over from Medstar included more
individuals who met the Lead Paramedic classification than the City would ideally have if it were building the EMS system and staffing positions
from the ground up. If the City were designing from scratch, there would be fewer Lead Paramedics and more EMTs.
Language is included in the attached staffing ordinance to effect the contractual provision, with Council authorizing the Fire Chief to rebalance the
allocation within the two noted ranks over time as personnel changes take place. When a vacancy occurs in the Lead Paramedic classification,
the Fire Chief, by directive and in accordance with authority delegated under the staffing ordinance, will decrease the number of authorized
positions in the Lead Paramedic classification and increase the number of authorized positions in the EMT classification. This procedure will be
used by the Fire Chief until the authorized strength in the Lead Paramedic classification is reduced to 137 and the authorized strength for the EMT
classification is increased to 328. A vacancy in the EMT classification will be filled through the customary process, and no changes in the
authorized strength will result. The appropriate balance of EMT's and Paremedics in field operations are based on the current deployment need for
Advanced Life Support (ALS) and Basic Life Support (BLS).
In changing the number of authorized positions in the EMT and Lead Paramedic positions in the manner described above, the Fire Chief will
endeavor to maintain 465 total authorized positions in the classifications of EMT and Lead Paramedic of which 449 are currently assigned to Field
Operations.
Salary Ordinance
Adoption of the second ordinance will approve civil service salary levels for the coming fiscal year. This ordinance reflects the salary schedules for
dual -role firefighter positions in year four of the current CBA (Fort Worth Contract No. 52862), which expires on September 30, 2026, and salary
schedules for single -role EMS positions per the MOU modifying the CBA.
If a new CBA is adopted prior to end of the 2026 fiscal year, another M&C may be brought forward to update the salary ordinance.
Budgetary Note - EMS positions are captured in the Emergency Medical Services Fund and are included in the cost allocation process for other
jurisdictions that will be receiving EMS services from Fort Worth (the Member Cities). Fire positions are captured in the General Fund.
A Form 1295 is not required because: This M&C does not request approval of a contract with a business entity.
FISCAL INFORMATION / CERTIFICATION:
The Director of Finance certifies that approval of these recommendations will have no material effect on City funds.
Submitted for Citv Manaaer's Office bv: Dianna Giordano 7783
Oriainatina Business Unit Head: Christianne Simmons 6222
Additional Information Contact:
Expedited