Fire Department plans 40 hires in 2025; council asks about overtime and mutual aid costs

Fire Chief Anthony Luke told council budget committee members that the Division of Fire expects to hire a class of 40 new firefighters in 2025 and that the department’s 2025 budget includes a goal to manage uniform overtime at roughly past levels set in the budget book. Committee members asked how realistic overtime targets are and raised concerns about very small maintenance line items for station upkeep.

“ We anticipate bringing on 40 additional firefighters,” Chief Anthony Luke told the committee; finance staff said the department is budgeted for 770 total fire employees for 2025 and showed total expenditures and headcounts in the budget book.

Committee members pointed to maintenance lines for fire stations that in past years amounted to modest sums and said that basic building upkeep across fire houses — floors, locks, HVAC, restroom repairs — routinely requires more investment than small maintenance allocations provide. The committee asked the administration to explain which capital and property‑management funds pay for bigger repairs (roofs, boilers, major HVAC) and which smaller items come out of division budgets. Finance staff said some repairs are handled by the city’s property management budget and that the city will provide details when property management appears before council.

The committee also discussed mutual aid and revenue from contractual response agreements. Finance staff said the city has reciprocal arrangements with nearby municipalities and that some reimbursements (for example, for airport detail) are recorded as department revenues; the chief noted that neighboring jurisdictions provided staffing support during a recent line‑of‑duty death and did not charge the city for that assistance.

Other notes from the hearing: - Contractual services rises were attributed in part to recruitment activity and to an online policy/training vendor (Lexipol) used by the department. - Fire reported it had roughly 760 uniform employees as of December 2024 and is budgeted for 770 in 2025; attrition (retirements/resignations) continues to affect year‑to‑year counts. - Council members asked for a follow‑up breakdown of station maintenance and any planned capital requests for district stations.

Council members commended firefighters for their service and asked the administration for more detailed documentation of the maintenance funding structure and mutual‑aid costs and reimbursements.