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

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 as emergency callbacks to fill vacancies and cover contracted staffing requirements. He said other significant categories include reimbursable responses such as FEMA deployments, special events and hazmat calls. Baker noted some reimbursements return to the general fund only after administrative processing and that FEMA reimbursements can be slow: “The problem is the city is up‑front loading that cost to the federal government for our services,” he said.

Council members pressed Baker on trade‑offs and retention. Councilor Bellas said the city must balance public safety needs against the rest of the municipal budget and warned that any later budget amendment to cover overtime would require cuts elsewhere. Baker and council members discussed the role of parental leave in recruitment and retention; Baker and others said the benefit is a recruiting tool but that its interaction with other leave categories contributes to callbacks when multiple leave types overlap.

Baker outlined steps the department has taken or will take to reduce overtime: more granular data collection and reporting to identify reimbursable time; a 25% reduction target for division‑staff overtime through flexible schedules; discipline for known sick‑leave abuses; injury and risk reduction measures; and suspending all USAR (Urban Search and Rescue) out‑of‑state deployments to limit long callback impacts tied to FEMA work. He also described accelerating the recruitment academy so a new class would start in October, with interviews in July, to have new hires in place before peak spring leave periods.

Baker emphasized that contractual elements drive portions of the overtime cost. He described pay components — stipends, education pay, longevity and recently negotiated longevity increases — that raise the overtime base. He said the budget proposal for FY26 was presented “flat” with no new sworn positions, noting that the city and department had aligned to hold positions steady in light of broader budget constraints.

Councilors asked detailed operational questions about callback minimums and overtime rules. Baker confirmed that the negotiated minimum callback guarantee is several hours (the department cited a 4‑hour minimum for callbacks in the discussion) and that emergency callbacks for major incidents can require far longer commitments and thus produce higher costs.

The committee did not take a vote; instead members asked for follow‑up detail. Baker said the department would return with continued monitoring data and that many of the corrective actions were already underway.

Ending

Council members and fire leadership left the meeting with a shared recognition that overtime remains a structural budget pressure tied to negotiated pay and leave policies, recruitment and operational demands. The department presented specific management steps and asked the council to consider those changes alongside any future contract negotiations or budget amendments. The committee requested additional breakdowns and periodic updates to assess whether the management steps and the planned academy intake reduce callback costs.