Oneonta Fire Chief Brian Knapp announced Tuesday, Dec. 17 that he would retire if city leaders didn’t raise his salary, waive a residency requirement and let him take a vehicle home.
Joined by more than a dozen fire department personnel, Knapp made his case to the Common Council Tuesday. The council’s Finance and Human Resources Committee initially heard Knapp’s requests Nov. 25.
The council voted unanimously to waive the city’s residency requirement for Knapp. The requirement states that all employed members of the Oneonta Fire Department must live in either the city, the fire district or within a five-mile radius from the fire station. The council didn’t take action on the salary and vehicle requests.
Knapp said Tuesday that his request for the residency waiver and vehicle use were related to his home situation. He and his wife bought a family farm in Maryland — which is 12.8 miles from the firehouse — not knowing he would be hired as fire chief six months later, and they have been paying on two properties to maintain a residence in the city. Bringing home the fire chief’s vehicle would allow him to travel from Maryland to the scene of an emergency in Oneonta quickly, he said.
Knapp became Oneonta’s fire chief in 2021. He joined the city fire department in 2004. For two years, he was a part-time firefighter and was hired full time in 2006, according to Daily Star archives.
He said Tuesday that he’s “at a crossroads in my career right now” as he approaches his retirement age, and needs to decide whether to stay on as chief or retire from the city and pursue a second career.
During the Nov. 25 Finance/Human Resources meeting, Knapp said that he approached City Administrator Greg Mattice last year and again this year with concerns that the salary assigned to the chief’s position was “undervalued” based on the city’s 2023 salary study and his own research.
Knapp’s 2023 salary was $95,400. His 2024 salary was $108,600, however at Knapp’s request his base salary increase of $13,000 would only be applied when the IAFF’s successor labor agreement was ratified, with an effective date of Jan. 1, 2024. He also received a $200 longevity increase, according to a table of city administrative personnel salaries.
He said he believed that was low compared to the salaries of fire chiefs in other small to medium upstate cities. He compared the salaries in 2022 and 2023 from 26 cities, ranging from $96,689 in Norwich up to $154,746 in Troy, for an average of $121,389.
“I believe I should be the second-highest salaried employee in the City, behind you,” Knapp said in an Oct. 10 email to Mattice, adding that historically the police chief’s and fire chief’s salaries have been comparable, but that changed with the new salary schedule.
“I feel that my salary has fallen behind, especially compared to the 2024 salary given to the Police Chief,” he said. “No other department head in the City has the responsibility that I do to provide service for the entire town. Additionally, we are responsible for public safety at both colleges, which is not the case for other departments.”
He added that he has completed the state-mandated Fire Officer 3 program, improved firefighter recruitment and invested time and energy into the transport ambulance concept.
He asked that his 2025 salary be adjusted to $120,000, that the residency requirement be waived to allow him to live outside of Oneonta and that he be able to take the fire chief’s car home “to respond more efficiently to emergencies” or adjust his salary to $125,000.
Mattice responded to Knapp via email Nov. 23. Mattice said that he didn’t support Knapp’s request for a a 2025 base salary increase since significant salary adjustments were made for administrative employees in 2024 based on the salary study, and addressing one position outside a comprehensive review risks creating inequities.
Knapp’s requested salary adjustment was not part of the 2025 budget submissions and was excluded from the draft budget already reviewed and approved by the council, Mattice added, and given the council’s recent criticism of significant raises, the ongoing budget deficit and perceptions that past raises contributed to the deficit, any new request for a significant salary increase would likely face strong disapproval.
He suggested that Knapp take up the matter with Finance/HR and the Common Council.
Mattice was more receptive to Knapp’s requests regarding living at the Maryland farm and taking home the chief’s vehicle.
“In my opinion it’d be fair to change the City code to match the residency requirement included in the IAFF contract once it’s finalized,” Mattice said, “and I intend to suggest that when the time comes. Taking home a City vehicle is currently allowed and could be reviewed at the same time the residency requirement is changed.”
He added that he believed Knapp had “made significant strides in the Fire Department since taking on this important role.”
“I do not take it lightly that this will result in your retirement in July 2026 as opposed to possibly a later date, as you’ve explained,” he said. “I’d prefer to see you continue as Fire Chief beyond that date, as I believe there is more you could accomplish here, and there may certainly be future opportunities for salary adjustments. But you’ve made your intentions clear, and I understand your desire to plan ahead.”