L.A. FIREFIGHTERS: OVERTIME OVERKILL? : Cities Across Nation Question Rising Costs, Seek Staffing Solutions

Across the country, officials are questioning why their firefighters are earning so much in overtime.

From California to Florida, financially strapped cities in the last few years have set their sights on the eye-catching sums that some are taking home.

In Fresno, the issue surfaced in 1995 after Mayor Pro Tem Michael E. Briggs asked for a list of city employees who made more than $60,000 a year. Among the top earners was a firefighter who made six figures in base salary and overtime combined.

“They’re very brave and they do their job well, but when you find out one regular firefighter is making more than $100,000, that’s a bit much,” Briggs said.

Like many communities, Fresno was paying overtime because the fire department was understaffed. After doing the math, city officials concluded they could stretch their money by hiring new firefighters rather than paying overtime to existing ones.

Cities small and large are contending with the issue, whether it’s an overtime budget of $1 million or $90 million. Although fire departments say the costs reflect the need to maintain a high level of service with fewer people, many public officials seem less sure of the cause--or a solution.

In Lawrence, Mass., a furor arose when, three months into fiscal year 1996, the fire department had spent more than 54% of its $500,000 overtime budget.

In Deerfield Beach, Fla., a controversy erupted when the fire department asked for $200,000 in overtime--twice what it had spent the previous year.

In Providence, R.I., the overtime debate cracked wide open when the city began paying firefighters a total of $20,000 a week in overtime. That, of course, is paltry compared to the $2.4 million a week spent last year for Los Angeles county and city firefighters. Still, it was hard for Providence officials to swallow.

“It’s extremely disturbing to those of us on the council. We don’t know what to make of it,” said City Councilman Thomas M. Glavin. “There’s no question our sick leave is out of control and that adds to the overtime. And I think there’s some problem with the management of resources.”

Closer to home, in Ventura County, officials decided to investigate their salary system after learning that the fire department spent $8.5 million of its $50-million budget on overtime in 1995.

Ventura County Supervisor John K. Flynn described the department’s overtime as “out of control.”

In 1993, the New York City Fire Commission grew concerned that overtime was getting out of hand when expenditures reached $90 million. An analyst with the New York City office of budget and management said the commission became convinced that “medical leave was resulting in too much overtime” and set out to find ways to cut it.

The commission succeeded: By fiscal year 1995, the city had whacked overtime by 20% through tighter policing.

“They really wanted to bring it down,” the analyst said. “They felt like they could get it down into the [$70 million range] and they did.”