Birmingham Mayor Randall Woodfin this week proposed a five percent cost of living adjustment for all city employees in a presentation to the Birmingham City Council’s Budget and Finance Committee.

“We want to make sure we’re making the necessary investments in our employees,” Woodfin told reporters Tuesday. “And they deserve it.”

The cost of living pay increase for employees, coupled with last year’s raise, would add up to a combined 10 percent raise since last year, when employees got a five percent raise.

“The city’s greatest asset to serve Birmingham is our people, the employees of our city,” Woodfin said. “We appreciate your sacrifice and commitment. The city is committed to investing in all city employees and providing competitive compensation in order to retain and recruit a customer-service based, efficient and effective workforce.”

The total cost of the pay increases would be $13.5 million, the mayor’s office said.

Woodfin also announced a plan to hire an additional 37 employees for the Birmingham Fire and Rescue Service, at a cost of about $2.5 million.

In 2022, Birmingham Fire and Rescue responded to a record number of calls, he said.

“Our fire department continues to experience an extremely high call volume,” Woodfin said.

Woodfin said he did not anticipate any difficulty in finding applicants for the positions. “They don’t have a problem actually filling those positions,” he said. “We’re fortunate that people want to be firefighters in our city.”

The proposal could be presented to the Birmingham City Council for approval later this month.

See also: Birmingham mayor proposes funds for amphitheatre, CrossPlex, Legion Field, Rickwood

Birmingham approves plan to offer tiny shelters to the homeless