Ortonville- The village council has approved a nearly 2 percent wage increase for full-time Brandon Fire Department staff.
The council approved the raise, as well as a 25-cent per hour increase for on-call firefighters, during their Nov. 25 meeting.
The move makes the raises, which the Brandon Township Board approved earlier in the month, official.
The 1.957 percent wage increase will be the first raise for the firefighters and the administrative assistant since 2008. Fire Chief David Kwapis noted the cost of living has increased 9.1 percent in that time.
Last year, firefighters responded to more than 1,100 calls for service.
Kwapis said Monday night that he had accounted for wage increases in the fire operating budget. During an Oct. 23 joint meeting between the township board and village council, the 2014 fire operating budget was approved, with revenues and expenditures of $1.8 million.
The township fire department has 11 full-time firefighters and one full-time administrative assistant.