Finance committee: November report shows $16.2 million revenue gain and $19.6 million expenditure overrun; police and fire overtime cited

Dr. Dutis, representing the city’s budget office, presented the Finance and Budget Committee with the monthly monitoring report for November 2024, saying general-fund revenues were $16.2 million ahead of estimates while expenditures were $19.6 million over projections.

Dr. Dutis identified police and fire overtime as primary drivers of the expenditure overrun and said the city had set aside $5.8 million in a wage reserve to address contractual wage increases; that reserve has not yet been transferred and will reduce the apparent shortfall when it is moved. Committee members asked follow-up questions about income tax accounting and overtime trends.

Council member Seth Walsh asked whether prior included income from the Bond Hill Mercy site remained in the $9.922 million income-tax figure; Dr. Dutis replied that the Bond Hill Mercy income had been moved out of that account. Council member Mark Jeffries and others pressed on the persistence of fire overtime: Dr. Dutis said recent recruit classes have been deployed and the department is now slightly over complement, which should reduce overtime in future months though it will not eliminate it entirely.

Committee members noted the approaching budget season and asked that the fire chief be invited to brief the committee on operational changes and overtime mitigation strategies; staff agreed to find a way to place that briefing on a future agenda.

The November monitoring information was presented during committee review; no committee ordinance or vote altering appropriations was recorded for this item in the transcript excerpt.