After seven years, Sicamous Fire Rescue members are getting a raise. 

At the Oct. 9 council meeting, human resources manager Shawna Koll presented a proposed update to the Firefighter & Officer Remuneration Policy that she said hasn't been reviewed since 2017.

The suggested amendments to the pay schedule would see an additional $4,800 for officer honorariums and $12,200 with an hourly rate increase for practice and call outs for an annual budget increase of $17,000. Additionally, a proposed per hour increase to the training rate could mean another $1,500 on top of that.

Though council was supportive of the pay raise, there was some hesitation regarding the budget impact and how to implement it. 

"I think this has to be adjusted anyways... but I mean, there's some pretty big dollar figures and financial pressures coming up and we're going to have to certainly get a pretty good handle on it because this will go directly to tax increase and other implications," Coun. Ian Baillie said. "I do support it, but I do wonder if we keep doing these one offs, are we going to miss the big picture when it comes to the budget overall."

Coun. Gord Bushell agreed with holding off on approving it now to instead address it during budget talks.

"I support it 100 per cent other than the time," he said. "We're going into budget deliberations fairly quickly and it would be great if we could hang on til then, but I support it 100 per cent."

Mayor Colleen Anderson looked at the timing of it differently, particularly in how long it's been since it was last updated.

"This hasn't been changed for seven years, so I think it's fair..." she said. "Because I do think our fire department and our volunteers are worth it, and I definitely want to move forward with this."

Coun. Pam Beech seconded that, adding that given the importance of local firefighters "they're worth putting more money into salaries or pay for them."

The policy amendment carried unanimously as presented, and will take effect as of Oct. 1, representing just a quarter of the $17,000 total affecting this year's budget.