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Redmond Q1 overtime 4.8% above target but offset by salary savings; fire overtime remains primary driver
Summary
Redmond reported first‑quarter overtime about 4.8% above target (~$500,000) but overall personnel spending was 1.1% under budget after salary savings; the fire department was the biggest driver of the overtime overage.
City finance staff reported that overtime for January–March 2025 ran about 4.8% above target—roughly $500,000 over target—but salary savings left the city about 1.1% under overall budget for the quarter.
Daniel Morgan presented the Q1 overtime report to the Committee of the Whole on May 13, saying the apparent overtime overage is primarily concentrated in the fire department. Morgan said fire overtime was about $530,000 over but that salary‑savings of roughly $900,000 offset those costs across the department, leaving the city’s total personnel spending under budget by about $2.4 million when salary savings are included. Fire overtime was driven largely by shift coverage (sick leave, vacancies, vacation) and incident‑driven responses; staff said incident‑related overtime—such as deployments to the California wildfires—is fully reimbursed and in fact yielded a small positive variance in reimbursement accounting.
Police overtime was about 1% over target but had sufficient salary savings to cover the overage; other departments were close to targets. Council members asked for a more detailed fire overtime breakdown, including whether injury‑related overtime was on‑ or off‑duty; Chief Shepherd (attending remotely) said staff would provide particulars and that the department will bring detailed numbers to the public safety committee.
Why it matters: overtime trends affect budget planning and departmental operations. Finance staff said they are working with the fire department to understand predictable drivers (retirements, staffing patterns) and to identify assumptions that could inform a different budgeting approach for fire if appropriate.
Next steps: staff said they will continue cross‑department work to identify controllable drivers of overtime, and the fire department will provide a fuller briefing on overtime and injury‑related costs in a subsequent public safety meeting.
