Underbudgeted salaries for Baltimore?s fire department will take a bite out of the city?s projected surplus after some employees racked as much as 68 percent of their base salary in overtime, according to an Examiner analysis.
The city?s fire department underbudgeted overtime by 36 percent last year, spending $8.3 million on overtime last fiscal year, or $2.2 million more than reserved, according to city budget director Ray Wacks. About $4.8 million of the city?s $40 million surplus will cover fire department overruns, almost all attributable to overtime, he said.
“The fire department is required by safety regulations to put a certain amount of people on the floor every shift to the have a full compliment to operate the equipment,” Wacks said. “As they have vacancies, we are required to bring more people back.”
Fire dispatcher Arthur Kirk added 68 percent of his base salary in overtime, taking home nearly $65,500 ? as much as a captain ? on a salary of $39,000. Fire spokesman Kevin Cartwright, the top overtime earner, took home $89,600 after nearly $33,000 in overtime.
Cartwright, who said he works 80 to 90 hours each week, coordinates government relations, marketing campaigns, and is on scene at fires around the clock to assist the media. He said overtime is easier to justify for the fire department compared to other city agencies.
“We are one of the few departments that operate on minimum staffing because we provide emergency services,” Cartwright said. “If 300 people didn?t come in one day, it would significantly impact our resources.”
Fire union leaders said overtime budgeting is significantly improving ? and far more accurate than the city?s police department, recently criticized for spending $37 million on overtime when only $8 million was budgeted. Nearly half of the city?s surplus will cover policeoverruns, officials said.
Rick Schluderberg, president of Local 734, said city officials historically underbudget fire overtime by 50 percent.
“Part of the problem is we have so many people detailed out of their assigned duties that we have to back staff,” Schluderberg said. “Some people are getting paid a lot of acting-out-of-title pay. They are performing duties a rank or several ranks above.”
