Spokane Fire Department explains overtime surge: staffing, contracts and recruit shortfalls drive costs

Spokane Fire Department leaders told the City Council study session that overtime costs are being driven by contractual staffing requirements, higher retirements and recruit‑academy attrition. Fire Chief Julia Burke said the department comes into 2025 with a proposed overtime budget of $6,400,000 and an adopted budget of $4.97 million; the department has been unable to bridge the gap without actions that would reduce service. “We have to have 71 people on duty every day,” Chief Burke said, explaining how minimum daily staffing, required by the collective bargaining agreement, determines operational FTE needs. Burke outlined the department’s operational staffing: 14 engines (three staff each), five trucks (four staff each), three medics (two staff each), one safety officer and two battalion chiefs; combined, operations require 284 operational FTEs by contract. The department reported 297 FTEs currently filled and said conditional offers have been made for a second, unplanned recruit academy to start in September that could bring the filled FTEs to roughly 312 by January if typical pass rates hold. Chief Burke and budget staff described multiple overtime categories: operational overtime to staff apparatus on 9‑1‑1 shifts and non‑operational, mission‑important overtime such as investigations, specialty training, special event coverage and certain uniformed staff performing 40‑hour work. Department data presented at the session showed about 11.2 percent (roughly $660,000) of overtime is non‑operational in nature. The department explained a local scheduling practice called trades, in which firefighters swap shifts; about 7 percent of approved trades end up not worked, creating additional overtime because vacancies still must be filled. Burke described the approval process for trades, which involves chain‑of‑command sign‑off up to the deputy chief for shifts meeting higher thresholds. Because many of the drivers are contractual or legally protected (vacation, sick leave, PFML, injury), Burke said administrative options to reduce overtime without reducing service are limited. The department and the mayor’s office have pursued additional recruit classes and are discussing a model similar to a prior police recruiting FTE approach to maintain a relief pool and meet expected retirements. Council members asked whether closing stations had been considered; Burke said operational options were explored but that under current contract terms they would reduce service delivery and had not advanced through the union or to the council as a formal proposal. Staff said the overtime and relief‑pool issue will be an active area in upcoming budget discussions and collective bargaining, and that the department will continue to pursue recruit schools and other operational mitigations.