Albertville Fire Fighters to Receive Back Pay

For some firefighters their next paycheck will have a little extra in it. A recent computer glitch with the firehouse computer program wasn't registering all of the hours for certain fire calls.

"The error goes back to 2008," Albertville Fire Chief Tate Mills told the council last night. "Any call that was longer than one hour wasn't recorded," thus the firefighters weren't paid.

Mills has done the math and put together a back log of hours that are owed to local firefighters and it totals nearly $30,000.

"I'll be verifying numbers and with council approval they will be paid after the August 2 council meeting," Albertville finance director Tina Lannes said.

The firefighters will be receiving straight pay with no interest added in. Because the Fire Department budget typically uses less of their annual budget and the remainder gets put in General Fund, they will be paid the back pay from General Fund.

"Luckily we caught it," Mills said. "It does go to show you though that these guys aren't in it for the pay."