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Hernando Today

Spring Hill Fire Rescue Chiefs Get Raises

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By TONY HOLT

Hernando Today

Published: October 24, 2008

SPRING HILL - The fire district's two highest-ranking officers are getting raises during a salary freeze.

Both interim Spring Hill Fire Chief Mike Rampino and Assistant Chief Bill Davies make more than $80,000 per year. They received a 3 percent raise.

The board of fire commissioners approved it Wednesday by a 3 to 2 vote.

No other county employee who makes more than the $65,000 threshold was given a raise this year. Those who made less received a 2 percent increase in salary.

One of the dissenting voters, fire Commissioner Rob Giammarco, used the county attorney's recent contract extension as an example.

Garth Coller, who earns $132,829 per year, was subject to the freeze. His salary remains the same as last year's.

"I thought we ought to do the same thing," Giammarco said. "I have nothing against (the chiefs) personally. I have to look out for the people."

After the vote, Rampino's annual salary jumped to $88,802.48, an increase of more than $2,500. Davies' new salary is $82,653.79, an increase of more than $2,400.

Both men also received raises earlier in the year, Giammarco said. Rampino's increase was the most dramatic. It went up by about 30 percent after he accepted the interim chief position in February.

Rampino is on vacation this week.

"If they had said no (to the raise), then they would have said no," answered Davies when contacted over the phone Thursday. "It's hard to speculate what I would have done."

A few members of the public stood and spoke about the issue prior to the vote.

Among them was Ty Lynch, a recent regular at fire board meetings. When fire Commissioner Leo Jacobs mentioned Social Security recipients received a 5.8 percent raise, Lynch found fault with the comparison.

"To them, a 3 percent increase is $1,500 per year," he said. "That's three times what I'm getting."

The Social Security hike for seniors this year translates to an additional $500, he said.

Lynch actually underestimated the raises for Rampino and Davies. Their increases are more than four times what he will receive through Social Security.

"I think it would have been in their best interest to follow the county's lead and abide by the freeze," County Commissioner Rose Rocco said Thursday. "The taxpayers are the ones who are going to be paying for this."

She also mentioned the timing - less than two weeks before voters decide on whether to have an independent fire district or allow the county to take over and dissolve the fire board.

"The accountability level just isn't there," she said of the fire commissioners. "I would think the people would be looking at this."

In other fire district news:

The county's fleet department is prepared to purchase three vehicles, one of which will be issued to the fire district.

The cost for the ambulance will be $159,938.00. The purchase is expected by early December.

The issue went before the board Wednesday. The district has budgeted $160,000 for a new ambulance this year. It passed 4 to 1.

Giammarco was the one who voted against it.

"The county has been looking into this for five months and we haven't," said the fire commissioner, who complained he only knew of the purchase since Tuesday. "We need to know what we're buying."

Reporter Tony Holt can be reached at 352-544-5283 or wholt@hernandotoday.com.

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