A case-driven look at how cities justify executive pay hikes—and what it means for public administration practice
Tuscaloosa's proposal to raise its public safety director from about $184,000 to $230,297.53, a 25% increase, is not just a pay adjustment; it is a public service leadership case study. It is tied to a state law change removing overtime eligibility for the position.
The tension is internal equity versus external competitiveness: the director oversees police and fire chiefs who earned more than $200,000 with overtime last year, but the raise would make him the city's highest-paid salaried executive, $20,000 to $30,000 above the COO. That pay gap is the policy fault line.
Some compensation changes pass as quiet administrative housekeeping. Others turn into public stress tests for both executive pay and public sector pay transparency. The Tuscaloosa proposal fell into the second category.
The Administration Committee considered raising the executive director of public safety's salary from about $184,000 to $230,297.53, roughly a 25% or $46,000 increase. Under the current PF8 public administration salary range, pay starts at $144,206.20. The proposed range would start at $189,015.91 and top out at $267,074.53, with the director placed at Step 9 on the new scale, which equals $230,297.53.
Brent Blankley has held the position since January and previously served as Tuscaloosa Police Chief. That path from police chief to executive director sharpened the scrutiny, because the raise would make him the highest-paid salaried city position, above the chief operating officer by an estimated $20,000 to $30,000.
One committee member researched comparable salaries in Montgomery and elsewhere and said, "I just know we're going to hear from the public about this, Mayor." The Administration Committee did not advance the proposal. It referred the salary adjustment to the Public Safety Committee for a September 22 discussion, with a possible full City Council vote the same day, as reported by ABC 33/40.
A change in Alabama state law converted the Tuscaloosa executive director of public safety administration role from nonexempt to exempt, removing eligibility for overtime and compensatory time. That classification change advanced on its own, separate from the salary raise proposal, but it exposed a structural pay problem that the council could not ignore.
Mayor Walt Maddox argued that the reclassification created an internal equity issue. In the prior year, both the police chief and fire chief earned more than $200,000 once overtime was included. The executive director supervises both chiefs and, under the old rules, could rely on overtime to stay ahead. With the new exempt status, a base salary adjustment was needed to keep the director from earning less than the people who report to him.
For the city, the shift trades unpredictable overtime costs for a higher but stable base salary line item. That improves budget forecasting, but it forces local government leadership to weigh a visible $46,000 increase against the political cost of raising executive pay in public view. The reclassification itself did not depend on the raise being approved, which kept the overtime eligibility change and the compensation debate on separate tracks.
The Bureau of Labor Statistics does not publish a separate occupation code for municipal public safety directors, so national benchmarking requires comparison to adjacent executive and law enforcement supervisory roles. The table below shows 2025 national wage estimates for chief executives and first-line supervisors of police and detectives, two commonly referenced positions in local government compensation discussions. Figures are annual wages and do not include overtime, benefits, or local adjustments.
| Occupation | Total Employment | Mean Annual Wage | 25th Percentile | Median Annual Wage | 75th Percentile |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chief Executives | 204,350 | $269,630 | $129,540 | $213,990 | $356,200 |
| First-Line Supervisors of Police and Detectives | 154,610 | $112,190 | $81,860 | $106,040 | $132,620 |
In Tuscaloosa, the proposal would set the public safety director at $230,297.53, above the police and fire chiefs who each exceeded $200,000 with overtime last year. Peer benchmarks show that not every jurisdiction has a separate public safety director role; where available, director pay often falls below or near police chief pay depending on city size and structure. The table below lists reported salaries for comparable public safety leadership positions.
| Position / Jurisdiction | Reported Salary | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Public Safety Director, Tuscaloosa AL (proposed) | $230,297.53 | Proposed Step 9 salary under reclassification from the current salary of approximately $184,000. |
| Public Safety Director, Pittsburgh PA | $159,446 | Listed in the City of Pittsburgh FY 2024 operating budget, Department of Public Safety Bureau of Administration. |
| Police Chief, Tuscaloosa AL | More than $200,000 with overtime (last year) | Mayor Maddox cited police and fire chiefs each earning more than $200,000 including overtime; exact base salary not reported. |
| Police Chief, Knoxville TN | $226,267 | 2026 salary after prior raises from $185,000 (initial), $189,625 (2023), $215,250 (2024), and $220,631 (2025). |
| Assistant Police Chief, Chattanooga TN | $127,500 | 2024 salary in prior role as assistant chief, based on city records. |
| Police Chief, Chattanooga TN | $177,700 | Salary at time of June 2024 resignation; hired at $165,000, according to city records. |
| Chief of Police, Savannah GA | $182,073 | City of Savannah compensation data, updated 2025, about 74% above national average. |
| Police Chief (market average), Chattanooga TN | $121,894 | May 2026 average; typical range $91,500 to $150,200, top earners $171,634. |
| Police Chief (market average), Jersey City NJ | $139,732 | June 2025 average; typical range $104,900 to $172,200, top earners $196,751. |
| Chief of Police (market average), Jersey City NJ | $149,400 | July 2026 average; typical range $134,500 to $164,200, 90th percentile $177,675. |
| Deputy Police Chief, Montgomery AL | $138,001 to $180,060 | Effective October 1, 2025 pay plan; starting pay negotiable based on education, training, and experience. |
| Police Chief (market average), Savannah GA | $124,187 | Average base salary as of December 19, 2025, based on prior 36 months of job postings and reported salaries. |
Local government civil service systems now rest on a two-part test: pay must hold together internally and look defensible against outside labor markets.1 Tuscaloosa's proposed $46,000 raise for its public safety director puts that tension on display.
Internal equity compares a position's pay to the value, difficulty, and supervisory responsibility of other jobs in the same city government.2 Mayor Walt Maddox made this argument directly: the public safety director oversees the police and fire chiefs, each of whom earned more than $200,000 last year, including overtime. A supervisor whose base salary trails subordinates' total pay creates an unstable reporting structure.
External competitiveness asks whether similar roles in comparable cities pay at a similar level.3 One committee member researched salaries in Montgomery and elsewhere to see if the proposed $230,297.53 step held up against peer governments, not just internal logic.
The problem is that internal equity can push a salary above what external benchmarking alone would justify. The proposal would make the director the highest-paid salaried city position, exceeding the chief operating officer by roughly $20,000 to $30,000. That gap between internal rank and market checks is exactly what kept the proposal from advancing on first review.
