Finance Committee recommends $1.3 million transfer to cover projected New Haven police overtime

City budget staff told the Finance Committee on April 9 that the New Haven Police Department expects overtime spending to exceed the current fiscal-year budget and requested a $1.3 million transfer from police salary accounts to the department’s overtime line.

The request and rationale Director-level staff presented a year-to-date projection showing overtime averaging roughly $300,000 per week and an updated projection of about $311,000 per week through the remainder of the fiscal year; that trend led staff to ask the committee to authorize transferring salary savings from vacant positions into overtime to cover an anticipated shortfall of approximately $1.3 million. The presenters said part of the pressure on overtime came from retroactive pay and a settled labor contract; they also noted the city expects reimbursements and labor reserves to offset portions of the overall personnel costs.

At the meeting, Monique (Assistant Chief, New Haven Police Department) and city budget staff explained the department’s approach: continue active recruitment, monitor overtime biweekly, and identify adjustable beats or functions to reduce overtime as new academy classes and hires come online. Monique said recent hiring and planned academy classes should eventually reduce reliance on overtime but cautioned the impact will take months to materialize.

Questions and reimbursements Committee members asked for detail on how much of the overtime increase resulted from contract pay raises versus higher utilization. Staff said the upward movement was driven partially by the contract and partially by greater week-to-week overtime use and noted that reimbursable overtime (for federal task forces and event work) is recorded separately. Officials estimated reimbursements to the department total about $2.7 million for the year and said reimbursements were considered in the transfer calculation.

Committee action Alder Fasta moved to approve the transfer request; the motion was seconded and carried by voice vote. The chair reported the item will receive a favorable recommendation to the full Board of Alders.

Ending: The committee left oversight steps in place: continued monitoring of overtime, continued recruitment and training efforts, and follow-up reporting as academy classes graduate and vacancies are filled. No additional funding beyond the requested transfer was approved at the meeting; the committee forwarded the favorable recommendation to the full board for final action.