Fire & EMS stakeholder committee proposes a four-shift 'Garland shift' tied to November rate-swap election

Misty Gardner, staff liaison to the Public Safety Committee, summarized the committee's package to move Fire/EMS to a four-shift schedule (A/B/C/D) that would reduce firefighters' annual shifts from approximately 120 to about 103 by using 18 "debit days," rank reclassification and changes to the FLSA cycle. The plan would retire or reclassify lieutenant positions to captains and add non-firefighter positions to control overtime.

Gardner emphasized two contingencies: the November tax-rate swap election (referred to by staff as necessary to fund additional firefighters) and any relevant state-legislative constraints on transfers or tax capacity. She explained guardrails, including an overtime cap equal to the current budgeted overtime (with a 10% tolerance) that would trigger a 90-day reversion if exceeded. "If we don't get a yes for that in in city manager Betts' words, it's not possible," Gardner said when explaining the funding dependency. The plan's targeted operational start date would be Jan. 1, 2028 if the funding and legislative conditions align.

Council members asked about station accommodations, locker rotations, academy timelines and what a 'no' vote would mean; staff said a failed election would leave current schedules in place and that the association pledged not to seek immediate cuts in debit days until financial capacity allowed further steps.