NATCHEZ &8212; Lt. James Credit feels good that his job makes a difference in people&8217;s lives, and he isn&8217;t the only one at the Natchez Fire Department who feels that way.

He just wishes he got paid more for doing it.

&8220;We enjoy what we do, saving property and lives,&8221; said Credit, an 11-year veteran of the department. &8220;But any man or woman who does what we do for any length of time wants to feel compensated for what they do.&8221;

That&8217;s why he&8217;s glad aldermen on Tuesday voted to give firefighters step pay raises starting Jan. 1 &8212; their first raise since 2001, according to the City Clerk&8217;s Office. Under the new system, firefighters will get raises of 5 percent when they&8217;ve been with the department one, two and three years and 3 percent at five, 10, 15 and 25 years. Lieutenants, captains and battalion chiefs will get 3 percent raises at six months, 18 months and 36 months.

A Natchez firefighter starts out at $20,616.72 &8212; compared to a state average of $20,800, according to figures from the Mississippi Municipal Association&8217;s latest salary survey. An NFD lieutenant starts at $24,967.44; a captain, $29,139.12; and a battalion chief, $33,164.88.

&8220;I&8217;m just relieved we finally got it,&8221; Fire Chief Paul Johnson said Wednesday.

But he has one question. The budget aldermen approved for the fiscal year starting Oct. 1 didn&8217;t include an assistant chief and two other positions, at Johnson&8217;s request &8212; saving the city $78,000 Johnson hoped would be used toward step raises starting Oct. 1. The step system&8217;s extra pay and benefits are estimated to cost the city $40,000 per year, according to city clerk&8217;s figures. &8220;So if it was in the budget, I don&8217;t know why it wasn&8217;t approved (for October),&8221; Johnson said. &8220;I still don&8217;t know.&8221;

David Massey&8217;s explanation starts when aldermen were working to pass their 2005-2006 budget by the state&8217;s October deadline.

&8220;We said that once we passed the budget, including the tax increase, garbage rate increases and all that, then we&8217;d go back&8221; and hash out specifics of where the money would go, said Massey, alderman and mayor pro tem.

Then, due to a clerical error in City Hall, 85 other city employees got $100-a-month raises starting in October.

&8220;But we still didn&8217;t know if there was money in the budget&8221; for the fire raises, Massey said.

&8220;When (Alderman) Rickey Gray promised firefighters a raise, the cows were out of the fence then. But when the city clerk (Donnie Holloway) said we had the money during Tuesday&8217;s meeting, &8230; I voted for the raises. We would have given them anyway &8212; we just wanted the figures in front of us.&8221;

Gray said he didn&8217;t promise firefighters anything when he met with them recently to discuss the raise issue.

&8220;I said that to my understanding the raises would be effective Jan. 1,&8221; Gray said. &8220;See, the money was in the budget all along. So why didn&8217;t they get their raises when the other (city) workers did? I don&8217;t where the miscommunication came in.&8221;

Regardless of that issue, firefighters at Natchez&8217;s Central Station say the bigger issue is getting paid more for risking their lives. Credit said during his time with the department, dozens of his fellow firefighters have left for other jobs not because they didn&8217;t love it, but to support their families better.

It&8217;s also an issue of feeling valued. Firefighter Jason Felter has been with the department for several years, he said, but an incoming firefighter would make just as much as he&8217;s making now.

&8220;We&8217;re taken for granted,&8221; Credit said. &8220;And when it came to raises, no one&8217;s telling us what&8217;s going on.&8221;

Still, he likes the end result &8212; raises on the horizon &8212; and hopes he and other Natchez firefighters, in the future, get paid like taxpayers&8217; lives depend on it. &8220;I&8217;ll say this &8212; it&8217;s a step in the right direction,&8221; Credit said.