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Third‑quarter financials show healthy revenues; fire overtime above target and offset by salary savings
Summary
Finance reported the city is tracking near budget with strong retail sales tax and assessed‑value growth; the fire department reported overtime above target (~53.7% over the overtime budget, largely due to shift coverage and vacancies) but overall personnel costs remain within budget due to salary savings from vacancies.
City finance and fire staff reported on third‑quarter 2025 finances and overtime at the Nov. 18 council meeting.
Deputy Fire Chief Ami Verell presented the fire department’s overtime update: the city’s salary expenditures were tracking at roughly 35% of the biennium (below the expected 37.5%); overtime, however, is above target — reported as approximately 53.7% over the overtime budget (noted as about $4.6 million) — driven primarily by shift coverage due to vacancies and by incident‑driven deployments. Fire suppression overtime was described as roughly 70% over target (about $1.4 million). Verell said those overtime costs are currently offset by about $3.0 million in regular salary savings from vacancies and that some incident overtime (e.g., wildfire deployments and EMS transport) is reimbursed.
Finance Director Kelly Cochran gave the third‑quarter financial report and said the city remains near expected spending rates for the biennium, with retail sales tax strong (two consecutive months of over $5 million in Sept/Oct) and a preliminary assessed value increase of 6.3% (~$2.5 billion). Cochran described timing issues affecting some revenues (state entitlements and utility taxes) and noted capital program billing and invoice timing that will likely show higher spending in the fourth quarter.
Council asked questions about overhire strategies and staffing timelines; Deputy Chief Verell said outcomes from overhire efforts are not yet clear and the next recruit academy will inform whether vacancies are mitigated.
Next steps: fire will continue recruitment and report on overhire outcomes; finance will provide a fourth‑quarter report after soft close and audit work is complete.
