26-04-2025
Over $100M allocated to first responders in proposed Knoxville city budget
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (WATE) — At the State of The City on Friday, Mayor Kincannon announced the largest expense of her proposed budget will be going to Knoxville Police and Fire departments.
She plans to invest around 21%, or over $100 million, into higher pay, equipment, and a new fire station. The proposed budget will also allocate over $200,000 in salary increases to bring firefighters up to market-level salaries, and for the first time in 30 years, the City Of Knoxville Fire Department will be building a new station.
'I think this is a good city budget and strategic that serves a lot of areas, but it helps our folks in the fire department tremendously,' said KFD Assistant Chief Mark Wilbanks.
Along with the rising cost of living, Wilbanks said an increase in salary will help keep firefighters on their feet.
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'Bringing us up to that market rate is very important for our firefighters because, it's expensive to live in this area, and it's extremely helpful to our folks to get a little bump in and pay, to help them out with their daily needs,' he said.
Kincannon also announced they will be breaking ground on a new fire station in Burlington. This community is currently home to one of Knoxville's oldest fire stations, station number 6.
'The station opened in 1937, so there's been a lot of great firefighters come out of this station,' said the Captain of engine 6, Chris Hinkle. 'The community's great, there's going to be some history and nostalgia lost, but we're looking we're looking forward to having more room, better facilities.'
In 2023, crews were relocated from the building for structural repairs. Having moved back temporality, Hinkle said currently they are working with limited space, storage, and resources. But he couldn't imagine serving anywhere else.
'We love the area, we love the community,' he said. 'They love us here, they treat us great, talk to us with their store, they're great with us when we're on calls, so we enjoy being in there and look forward to it.'
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Wilbanks said they hope a new facility will help them better serve the community.
'There's nothing like having a brand-new building to work out of, state of the art, it'll be great,' he said. 'And it's going to be right in the heart of Burlington, which is extremely important to that community to keep that fire station right there'
Earlier this year, a number of firefighters filed a lawsuit against the City arguing the tiered step pay plan for civil servants negatively impacted them. The City of Knoxville recently made a motion to dismiss the case, and the firefighters have filed a motion to extend the time to respond to the City.
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