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Fire department plans staffing trade-offs under hiring freeze; legacy pension and workers'comp costs cited
Summary
The New Orleans Fire Department told the budget committee the department will face reduced daily staffing and has identified legacy pension and workers'compensation costs as drivers of long-term fiscal pressure; it plans to complete a new headquarters move and a fire-station alerting rollout.
Superintendent Roman Nelson told the City Council budget committee on Oct. 15 that the New Orleans Fire Department's 2026 budget reflects a hiring freeze, a reduction in overtime and a projected loss of 29.5 full-time-equivalent positions driven by attrition and personnel reductions.
Nelson said the department is operating under the assumption of a hiring freeze and is planning to manage operations through attrition and other internal adjustments. He said the department's overtime for 2025 totaled about $6.7 million (including airport-reimbursed overtime and EMS-support overtime); the 2026 budget…
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