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Council grills staff on police contract backloading and fire paid‑on‑call model as drivers of 2026 costs
Summary
Councilors pressed staff about a roughly $534,000 police budget increase tied to recent union negotiations and probed four fire staffing scenarios, including a $30/hour paid-on-call worst-case model; staff said these items largely explain the operating pressure.
Council members focused substantial discussion on public-safety costs after staff presented the preliminary budget. Staff told the council that recent unit contract negotiations for police included backloaded increases that raised projected costs in 2026 and said the police budget increase is largely pre‑negotiated.
"That’s why you’re seeing such a large increase... we used 3% one year and then pushed 13% on to 2026," the Finance Director said, describing the negotiated timing of market adjustments. Councilors pressed for clarity on which elements of the increase were binding and asked how much flexibility the city had before formal contract ratification.
Fire staffing drew lengthy debate. Staff presented four scenarios: continuing the current mix; paying paid‑on‑call personnel $30 an hour without full‑time staff (a worst‑case financial scenario in staff’s slide); a duty‑crew model with no full‑time staff; and hiring two full‑time firefighters. Staff said the $30/hour paid‑on‑call scenario would increase the fire budget by roughly $167,000 in the preliminary figures but emphasized that assumptions (projected call volume, number of responders per call) drive the estimate.
Council member Scott asked practical questions about staffing logistics, overnight coverage and whether a formal part‑time or administrative position should be created and published rather than implicitly funded through paid‑on‑call dollars. Staff acknowledged that some duties currently performed by paid‑on‑call personnel have no formal job description in the budget and said they would propose clearer job descriptions and options moving forward.
On retirement accounting and state aid, staff said dollars historically paid to a fire relief association could, under a PAR model, be reallocated to cover employer retirement contributions for full‑time firefighters, which changes line‑item presentation but does not eliminate the underlying cost.
No formal decisions were made; council asked staff for more detailed cost breakdowns for each staffing scenario and for analysis showing how call-volume assumptions and alternative duty schedules change the bottom line.
