Firefighters in the New York state capital made some very big cuts to their overtime pay last year and still managed to wind up well over their allotted budget.
The Albany Times-Union reports that while the Albany Fire Department trimmed its overtime in 2017 by 23.5 percent from the previous year, the costs were still $454,818 over budget.
With the city receiving $500,000 less in additional state aid and a scuttled real estate sale that would have netted $620,000, Mayor Kathy Sheehan says city departments will have to take a hard look at reducing overtime costs even more.
“Some of this may be looking at where we can find potential grant funding for some of the things that we’re hoping to accomplish,” Sheehan said. “Others is really taking a hard look at overtime, which continues to be a challenge, and making sure we’re doing all that we can to reduce those expenses.”
The Albany firefighters union released data showing a drop in the number of overtime shifts in 2017 (833) from 2016 (758) while the number of calls was still increasing. The department responded to 25,321 calls in 2017 compared to 23,744 the year before.
Union president Robert Mengel said maintaining a staff of 260 helped decrease overtime costs, but it was reliant on a federal SAFER grant that expired last year.
“The data is clear, maintaining a staff of 260 is an effective approach to managing overtime across the department, and meeting a surge in demand for emergency services,” Mengel said. “And hopefully, it’ll continue to trend down over the next few years.”
