Fire chief requests small increases for communications, station maintenance as overtime trends improve

Fire Chief Christina Sheck presented the fire department's fiscal-year budget overview, highlighting a division structure that includes suppression, a fire marshal's office and two deputy chiefs and noting the budget is largely driven by contractual salaries and benefits. "The overtime is 13%. Operations is 4%," Sheck told committee members, and said the department's contractual items are set by the collective bargaining unit.

Sheck said the department performed a deep internal review and is asking for "a small increase in recruitment" and higher amounts for communications and station maintenance because portable radios are nearing end-of-life and need repair or replacement. She said some maintenance previously came from the equipment line, which hindered equipment purchases, and the budget request separates station maintenance from equipment to catch up on both needs.

On overtime, Sheck said data were corrected in the slides and that year-to-date overtime expenditures stood at $823,559, putting the department slightly under the full-year overtime budget when projected. She attributed the majority of overtime to minimum-manpower needs, largely driven by vacancies, vacation, sick time and some military and injury-related leaves, and said four firefighters hired last year have helped reduce backfilling and lowered overtime on many shifts.

Sheck described a recent department health initiative that provided voluntary cancer screening to about 80% of active members and offered discounted rates for retirees, calling it a major wellness success. She also flagged two CIP items for the department book: an extractor/dryer (about $30,000) and equipment for the planned emergency operations center, and noted the city must order long-lead items (computers, furniture) ahead of a projected 10- to 14-month build.

Committee members pressed for apples-to-apples overtime comparisons year to date against previous years; Sheck agreed to circulate a year-to-date comparison and to follow up with more detailed projections. Several members also asked where a projected health-insurance savings from a change in the union plan would appear; staff said some savings are reflected in the finance department's consolidated lines and that exact claim-driven savings will be known once claims experience is observed.

The finance committee did not take a separate vote on the fire budget in this session; CIP and equipment requests will proceed through the normal budget process.