Posted: Apr. 17, 2012 | 5:33 p.m.

The Clark County Commission on Tuesday ratified a three-year contract agreement with firefighters that county officials say will save taxpayers about $60 million over 25 years.

The deal, which runs from July 1 to June 30, 2015, eliminates longevity pay for new hires, where county staff expects to reap most of the savings, and freezes cost-of-living adjustments for the first two years with the option of allowing either party to renegotiate the third year.

Last week, union members approved the agreement, the third consecutive accord in 18 months to include major financial concessions.

Commissioners praised county staff and the union for reaching an agreement and used the discussion to publicly support firefighters caught in the cross hairs because of a few accused of abusing sick leave and overtime.

"It's time for people to recognize that our fire department does a darn good job; these are good men and women," Commissioner Chris Giunchigliani said. "You should never discriminate or paint everyone with a broad brush. I'm hoping to get past the spitting on people and derogatory comments made to our firefighters."

Commissioner Tom Collins invited people to visit a firehouse.

"Go out on a call and watch them save a life, put a bloodied body back together from a car wreck or get somebody's heart beating again," Collins said. "Not just anybody knows how to do that, and that's worth something."

County officials have said they spend about $25 million a year on overall longevity pay, originally used to attract employees and reward them annually for their years of service after eight years.

Longevity pay made up about 8 percent of firefighter pay and 15 percent of battalion chief pay, according to the most recent employee compensation report.

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County Commissioners Approve Firefighters Contract