While I was meeting with residents over the past couple of months to discuss the Community Center project, many people shared with me their questions and concerns surrounding the vast challenges we face as a community and organization, and one item consistently rose to the top of our community’s wish list: Giving first responders a pay raise.

I want to thank everyone who took the time to make their voices heard before and during the recent election. As I have discussed before, the City is able to walk and chew gum at the same time, and consequently I am pleased to announce that we are planning not only to give first responders a raise but to make a historic investment in compensation that will prioritize our police department, fire department and other areas that have been struggling with high turnover, without making any changes to employees’ retirement or medical benefits.

Earlier this month, I provided Council with an update on the pay program recommendations for Fiscal Year 2026, which begins in October 2025, from our compensation and benefits committee. This committee—consisting of Councilmembers Rafael DeLaGarza III, April Butler and Mark Loffgren; our chief financial officer; the director of human resources; and myself—was established by the mayor as part of City Council’s efforts to develop a robust pay plan ahead of the next budget cycle.

For the past seven months, the committee has been meeting regularly to come up with recommendations by analyzing job market data and internal data (such as exit interviews and turnover data). We’ve also looked closely at our finances to determine how to invest in compensation without hampering other ongoing efforts. Most importantly, the City Council members involved were able to provide clear and concise policy guidance, which was critical for this process, since ultimately City Council are the ones who adopt the budget. 

Based on all the aforementioned, the committee is recommending a historic $3.6 million investment in employee compensation, with nearly 80% of the funding going toward our first responders. This investment, scheduled to take effect in October, pending budget approval this summer, is more than we have invested in compensation for the last three years combined. The committee has provided targeted recommendations for specific departments, such as: 

• Victoria Police Department: Turnover in our police department has primarily affected our patrol officers, senior police officers (SPOs) and detectives. The compensation plan will offer more competitive pay for these positions and introduce an improved step structure with faster advancement to the max-out step.
• Victoria Fire Department: By contrast, turnover in our fire department is concentrated in higher-level positions (fire engineer and above). The new step structure for Fire will address this issue by offering more competitive pay for these positions; in addition, we intend to continue providing greater clarity for the newest division of the department, the EMS division. 
• Public Works: In addition to strategically investing in high-turnover positions, we intend to clarify progression paths for prospective employees. 
• Solid Waste: Pay raises in this department will be calculated to compete not only with other cities but with the private sector, which is where we lose most of our drivers.

Although this investment will be historic in terms of the amount we are spending, it is also a continuation of compensation efforts dating back to fiscal year 2021 that have consistently prioritized our first responders. 

We have also invested in our public safety departments in other ways—by investing in our facilities, such as the remodeled Fire Station One and the upcoming Public Safety Headquarters, and by staying on top of equipment needs, some of which will be addressed at our next Council meeting via a historic investment in the replacement of fleet vehicles for both Police and Fire/EMS. In fact, public safety services routinely make up more than half of our City’s General Fund budget. To see the exact cost breakdown, you can check out our flyer at www.victoriatx.gov/budget. 

I am proud to say that Victoria is a city that values all of our employees who help keep us safe and keep the city moving forward, and I look forward to working with City Council and the compensation and benefits committee to fine-tune the pay program going into the budget process this summer. 

Jesús A. Garza is the city manager for the City of Victoria.