Peabody council approves $2.1M transfer to cover police and fire payroll; councilors urge overtime and hiring freezes

The Peabody City Council approved a $2.1 million transfer from the city’s unreserved fund balance to cover public safety payroll and overtime costs and heard motions recommending temporary personnel limits.

Councilor Peach reported that the finance committee unanimously approved the transfer to cover police salaries ($315,000), police overtime ($305,000), dispatch overtime ($40,000), police holiday pay ($40,000), fire salaries ($550,000) and fire overtime ($850,000) — totaling $2,100,000 from free cash. The full council approved the transfer by unanimous roll call, 10–0.

Councilor Gamash and others described repeated year-over-year increases in police and fire overtime. “We really need to get a handle on that,” Gamash said, describing long-term sick leave and duty-related injuries as contributing factors cited by department chiefs. The finance report noted budgeted raises were 2 percent but settled at 3 percent, contributing to higher salary costs.

Following the transfer, Councilor Gamash moved a nonbinding recommendation asking Mayor Benton Court to freeze overtime for municipal employees through the end of FY26 and to ask departments to cut remaining-year budgets by 5 percent; councilors discussed exceptions for emergencies and snow/ice response. The transcript records the motion and discussion but does not record a final roll-call result for the recommendation. Separately, Councilor Manning Martin moved a recommendation for a hiring freeze excluding police and fire; the transcript again records the motion without a final recorded outcome.

Councilors also approved a $55,000 transfer to fund library IT services after capital funds were used to respond to a data incident, and they approved routine quarterly cable-fund transfers and Comcast receipt adjustments, all by unanimous votes.