Tulsa Fire Department says parental-leave use and callbacks drove $868,500 overtime cost this year; department outlines steps to curb spending

Summary

Chief Michael Baker told the City Council budget committee that overtime spending is driven mainly by callbacks to meet minimum staffing, with parental leave and contract-driven pay components raising costs. The department presented data, pledged management actions and suspended some out‑of‑state deployments to reduce overtime.

Chief Michael Baker, Tulsa Fire Department fire chief, told the City Council's budget committee that overtime remains the department's single largest controllable cost and that a rise in parental‑leave use this year has been a major factor.

Baker said the department had hired heavily since 2021 and that many newer firefighters are establishing families, increasing use of a negotiated parental‑leave benefit. “So for that so far, that benefit this year has cost us $868,500,” Baker said.

Baker explained how overtime is calculated under the department's contract and why callbacks to reach minimum staffing are expensive: pay rates have risen as a result of negotiated salary increases, stipends (for technical rescue, canine handling and other specialties) and longevity adjustments that feed into overtime computation. He said a typical 24‑hour callback to cover 27 firefighters costs about $40,000.

The presentation broke overtime into granular categories the department now tracks, Baker said, and identified the single largest driver…

Tulsa Fire Department says parental-leave use and callbacks drove $868,500 overtime cost this year; department outlines steps to curb spending

Summary

Subscribe to keep reading