The Montgomery County Fire and Rescue Service blew through half of its overtime budget in the first three months of the fiscal year, according to new county data. In the first quarter of fiscal 2012 — July 1 to Sept. 30 — the Fire and Rescue Service spent $4.8 million, or 47 percent, of its $10.3 million overtime budget, according to CountyStat, the county’s data analysis arm. That’s 22 percent more than it spent during the same period two years ago.
The three-month spike in overtime is just the latest example of a growing problem since 2009, when the fire department cut positions because of budget cuts. Last fiscal year, the department spent $6.5 million more on personnel than it budgeted, $5 million of which was spent on overtime.
| Overtime spending by quarter | ||||||||
| Dates | Fiscal 2009 | Fiscal 2010 | Fiscal 2011 | Fiscal 2012 | ||||
| July 1-Sept. 30 | $4,059,819 | $3,963,623 | $3,476,033 | $4,823,695 | ||||
| Oct. 1-Dec. 31 | $3,538,729 | $3,975,449 | $3,784,644 | Not Available | ||||
| Jan. 1-March 31 | $2,777,947 | $3,314,025 | $3,255,337 | Not Available | ||||
| April 1-June 30 | $3,225,968 | $3,210,389 | $4,662,492 | Not Available | ||||
| Source: Montgomery County CountyStat | ||||||||
County officials are worried that this fiscal year will be worse.
Though the department saved $1.65 million in fiscal 2011 thanks to retiring personnel and fewer insurance and Social Security expenses, plus $1.7 million from furloughs, those savings likely will not be repeated this fiscal year, according to CountyStat. The personnel budget for fiscal 2012 is $7 million less than was spent the previous year.
Overtime costs have been rising since fiscal 2009, when the department made staffing cuts because of economic constraints. Between fiscal 2009 and 2011, the department’s overtime costs grew 15 percent, even as the budget for overtime shrunk in fiscal 2011.
Fire Chief Richard Bowers attributed the spike in overtime spending to being understaffed in his top-ranked positions. Even as he tried to hire more staff, the interview and training processes required paying staff members overtime, he said.
The collective bargaining agreement between the county and the Montgomery County Career Fire Fighters requires that Fire and Rescue Service approve any request for leave — whether it’s a personal day, sick leave or vacation — as long as the department has less than 30 percent of its staff on leave, said Bowers, which further drives up overtime spending.
The department is also in arbitration with the county’s firefighter union over an issue that could increase the amount of overtime pay the department shells out, Bowers said. The union wants higher-ranking paramedics to be eligible for overtime pay, which would mean paying more money for the same amount of overtime hours.
With these signs that overtime costs will rise more, Chief Administrative Officer Tim Firestine urged Bowers and the Office of Management and Budget to change their planning tactics. He pointed out that last year’s $6.5 million excess is larger than some entire departments’ budgets.
“We’ve got to get this budget right somehow,” he said. “Or we close fire stations.”
