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Fire and Rescue budget review spotlights overtime overruns and staffing shifts; Hillandale and Laytonsville items put on rec list
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Summary
Committee members and fire officials discussed chronic overtime overruns (FY26 already ~$7M over budget; a possible FY26 supplemental for $11.7M was cited), proposed staffing changes at Hillandale and Laytonsville, and a budget-neutral conversion of a day EMS transport to a 24-hour unit; the Hillandale and Laytonsville items were placed on the reconciliation list for the full council (3–0).
The Public Safety Committee spent a substantial portion of its April 29 work session on Fire and Rescue Services’ FY27 operating and CIP items, focusing on persistent overtime costs and several staffing-change proposals that would shift how the department deploys personnel.
Staff presented the department’s recommended base budget for FY27 (stated as about $312 million if approved) and emphasized that the executive’s recommendation includes no programmatic staff additions beyond previously known commitments. Committee staff noted that the department has a decade-long pattern of overtime expenditures that do not align with budgeted amounts; for FY26 the department reported being about $7 million over budget and indicated it may submit a supplemental appropriation request of roughly $11.7 million to cover overexpended personnel costs.
Susan Farag, committee staff, walked the committee through three interrelated staffing proposals intended to reduce system-wide overtime pressures: (1) a staffing change at Hillandale (Tower 724) removing nine career FTE from that tower but not abolishing positions, (2) removing six career FTE from Laytonsville Rescue Squad 717 while reassigning those functions across nearby apparatus, and (3) a budget-neutral shift that would convert Medic 732 at Station 32 from a day-only unit to a 24-hour advanced-life-support transport by reallocating six FTE from the rescue squad.
Fire Chief Corey Smelly said the department is implementing the master plan and attempting to balance personnel, volunteer capacity and operational requirements. He described the proposals as “hard choices” intended to preserve core emergency medical services and maintain system reliability while reducing overtime costs where possible. Chief Smelly also referenced ongoing work to increase four-person staffing on some trucks per recommendations in the recent NIOSH fatality report and said the department will pilot and demonstrate approaches to the council.
Council members expressed concern about operational impacts, particularly for East County communities, and about the perception that the council was being asked to make operational decisions. Several members said these are operational deployment decisions that the chief can make, but they also placed the Hillandale staffing change, Laytonsville adjustment, and the medic conversion on the reconciliation list so the full council can review service impacts alongside budget implications. Committee members asked staff for follow-up information about overlapping coverage, response data, and how any changes would affect service reliability.
Representative figures and context from staff: • FY27 Fire department budget (if approved as recommended): ~ $312,000,000. • FY26 overtime reported approximately $7,000,000 overbudget; staff indicated the possible FY26 supplemental appropriation could be $11,700,000. • State legislation (Senate Bill 445 / cross-filed House Bill 532) will change overtime computation effective Oct. 1, 2028; staff estimated an FY26-equivalent impact of about $10,600,000 for Montgomery County under the new overtime formula, which increases overtime exposure for common firefighter schedules.
Ending: The committee placed the staffing adjustments and the medic conversion on the reconciliation list (3–0) and asked for additional operational analyses and response-time data before full council consideration.
Representative quotes: “We have an amazing, combination department… we are going to figure it out like we always have.” — Fire Chief Corey Smelly. “For FY26, the overtime expenditures are already actually $7,000,000 over budget, and the department has advised that they expect to submit an FY26 supplemental appropriation for $11,700,000.” — committee staff summary (Susan Farag).
Next steps: Staff will provide response-data tables, overlapping-coverage analysis, and further information on projected overtime impacts for full council review.
