Delray Beach Fire Fighters IAFF Local 1842

06/04/2026

🏛 City Hall Smoke, Mirrors, and the Real Cost of Fire Rescue

Delray Beach may think our Fire Rescue Department is “too expensive,” but when viewed through the Mayor’s own suggested MSTU-style lens, the numbers tell a different story.

Delray firefighters are not overpaid. They are materially behind local comparisons, behind local inflation, and even behind the value Delray firefighters had in the early 2000s.

From June 2004 to the latest available 2026 CPI-U data, the Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach CPI-U increased from 185.6 to 369.561, meaning local consumer prices rose by about 99.12%, nearly doubling the cost of maintaining the same purchasing power.

A starting Firefighter/Paramedic salary would need to be about $81,239 today just to keep the same local buying power.

Delray’s current starting salary is $71,634, leaving our firefighters about $9,600 behind.

At the same time, pension benefits have been reduced. The multiplier dropped from 3.5% to 2.75%, employee contributions increased from 6% to 9%, COLA protection was reduced, and retirement benefits are now calculated under a weaker structure.

So the issue is not that Delray Beach Fire Rescue costs too much.

The issue is that our firefighters are being asked to provide high-level service while falling behind the local market, local inflation, and the retirement security firefighters used to have over 20 years ago.

That is not sustainable for recruitment, retention, or the future of this department.


International Association of Fire Fighters

06/03/2026

https://gofund.me/eb001e706

Please help out our Brother and President John Baker while he challenges… Rob Tackett needs your support for Help John Baker and Family Through This Challenge

05/23/2026

🚒 The economics are hard to ignore.

Boynton Beach is looking at a fire rescue merger that could mean:

$20 million in annual savings.

Lower millage rate.

No more $145 fire assessment fee.

Up to $115 million from the sale of assets.

No new participants added to the city’s local law pension plan.

That is real money with real long-term impact.

Delray Beach should be paying attention.

Residents deserve clear math, open discussion, and a plan that protects service.

A possible merger between Boynton Beach Fire Rescue and Palm Beach County Fire Rescue is now being explored as city leaders look for ways to reduce expenses and potentially lower taxes for residents.

05/16/2026

🔥🚑 In 1994, Delray Beach chose progress.

By a 3-2 vote, the City took control of its EMS system instead of letting a private ambulance company keep transport revenue.

Back then, that revenue was about $375,000 a year.

Today, it is over $3 million a year, staying right here in Delray Beach.

Delray is bigger, busier, and more demanding than ever.

Thankfully, last year’s discussion about cutting Fire Rescue staffing is behind us.

Let’s keep moving forward, not back to 1994. 🚒


International Association of Fire Fighters

05/14/2026

⚖️ Criticizing pay and benefits is fair. Residents have every right and should ask questions about public money.

But the implication that firefighters are greedy, before the City has even sat down with us, skips over the facts.

If a firefighter earns less than counterparts in surrounding departments, asking to discuss that gap is not greed. And when a department struggles to stay competitive, the effects on recruitment, retention, and emergency response are real, not scare tactics. Neither is the impact when the City cuts programs.

The information we have shared is historically accurate. If someone disputes the information, we welcome that conversation. But before anyone decides firefighters are asking for too much, shouldn’t the City at least hear the actual proposal?


International Association of Fire Fighters

05/13/2026

📊Budget season is here, and once again, the City’s math does not always math.

We put language in the CBA to start negotiations in April so the City could hear our proposals early and budget in good faith.

Last contract, firefighter proposal costs were inflated by compounding years together instead of showing the real annual budget impact.

And while Fire Rescue gave back nearly $3.9 million last year, with the lion’s share coming from salary and personnel GLs, the City still stripped Mobile Integrated Health away from residents, a program built to help those in need the most.

So before the financial hardship story starts again, we’ll be watching closely for the same budget-season spin.


International Association of Fire Fighters

05/12/2026

🔥 Strong pension. Safer Delray.

Since 2018, Delray's Fire Pension has climbed from 61.6% to 73.9% funded — and on a market value basis, it's already at 81.5%. That's using a conservative 6.25% rate of return assumption.

A strong pension is only half the equation. Delray needs benefits that bring experienced firefighters here — and keep them here.

Now let's make it competitive.

Because when seconds matter, experience matters.



International Association of Fire Fighters

05/10/2026

💐Happy Mother’s Day from Delray Beach Firefighters Local 1842.

Firefighters know what strength looks like. We see it every day in the mothers who lead, love, sacrifice, and hold families together.

To every mother and mother figure in our fire family and our community, thank you.

You are appreciated today and every day.

International Association of Fire Fighters

05/07/2026

📜 These photos are our union’s birth certificate.

On April 21, 1969, 23 Delray Beach firefighters signed the charter application that created this union local with the International Association of Fire Fighters.

Listed beside their names were their home addresses.

Every one of them lived in the heart of Delray Beach, zip code 33444.

One of those names would later become Fire Chief, a reminder that healthy cities invest in their own people and build leadership from within.

Today, our union has 193 members.

Only a handful can still call Delray Beach home.

That should matter.

Unless you have a generational home, or bought decades ago when Delray was still affordable, the people who protect this city can no longer afford to live in it.

Firefighters are more than emergency responders. They are neighbors, coaches, volunteers, parents, and taxpayers.

Delray Beach is strongest when the people who protect it can afford to be part of it.



Florida Professional Firefighters

05/04/2026

👨‍🚒 Today is Firefighter Appreciation Day.

Tomorrow night, our city will formalize that sentiment with an official proclamation.

It is a well-written document. It speaks of sacrifice, dedication, and service. All true.

Since April 1st, we have opened negotiations and patiently await a response with a meeting date and those who will represent the City.

We are grateful for the recognition. We remain in anticipation of its application.