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Fire chief and council spar over $1.9M in non‑reimbursed overtime
Summary
Staff said fire overtime (total overtime ~ $2.6M, with about $1.9M non‑FLSA/unreimbursed) is driving budget pressure; chiefs cited injuries, FMLA and mutual aid as causes and said recruitment and program changes are underway to reduce overtime.
El Segundo's fire department budget discussion focused on high overtime and the operational drivers behind it. Staff told the council total department overtime for next year is budgeted near $2.6 million; after accounting for FLSA and reimbursables staff said roughly $1.9 million appears to be non‑FLSA, non‑reimbursed overtime.
"If you net out capital outlay and transfers out, the true increases are salaries are going up by 5.7, Retirement and benefits going up 12.2%..." Paul said during the presentation. Fire Chief Ryan Ali described a moving target of vacancies: injury leaves, FMLA parental leaves and long‑term medical leaves he said are part of the reason overtime remains elevated. "For that snapshot today... I have 3 off on injury... 2 off long term injuries... 1 that just had a baby," Ali said.
Council members probed whether over‑hiring solved the overtime problem. Staff said over‑hiring alone has not solved the issue because events, mutual aid and unexpected absences drive overtime use and because some reimbursable work (strike teams, Chargers, Chevron contracts) flows to different general fund buckets rather than directly offsetting the overtime line.
Chief Ali and other staff described steps to reduce future overtime: ongoing recruitment, on‑the‑job paramedic training to avoid long academy delays, a workers' comp carve‑out under negotiation and more active management of reimbursable revenue. Council asked staff to return with specific proposals and clearer presentation of how reimbursables and transport revenue offset overtime.
