Finance Board: Fire Overtime Costs High – But Headed in the Right Direction

Fire overtime has been unusually high in recent years, due in large part to an increased number of calls and the use of “callback” employees on major emergency calls. Those figures have been no exception in the 2012-13 fiscal year as the Southington Fire Department continues to battle high overtime costs.

The Board of Finance on Wednesday approved a motion appropriating $161,704 from the town’s contingency budget for fire department overtime.

Unlike past years, however, the discussion was a little less contentious as much of that cost - $74,000 to be exact – was due to uncontrollable and unpredictable costs stemming from a long-term worker’s compensation claim and large costs absorbed during responses in the February blizzard that dropped over three feet of snow on the community.

“Going forward this year, we had one long-term illness for $52,000 in costs and (the February blizzard) for $22,000 – that’s an immediate $75,000 for this year,” said Southington Fire Chief Harold “Buddy” Clark. “If we remove from that, we are still saving $28,000 over what was originally proposed (for this fiscal year).”

The department has seen figures for overtime costs rise above $200,000 in recent years, leading to a full review of the department in 2012 as requested by the finance board and supported by Clark, the fire commission and the Southington Town Council.

Clark and Fire Commission Chairwoman Mary Baker each said Wednesday that the review provided multiple points for improvement and the administration has already started working to address those suggestions and help reduce the need for excessive overtime costs.

But certain aspects are still hard to address, Baker said, as fire response and public safety remain of the utmost importance.

“The board feels compelled to have minimum coverage per shifts,” Baker said. “The administration has been proactive in sending accurate budgets for what it is. This is less than past years’ requests and especially given the storm and other costs we are bound to by the current contract, we were unanimous as a commission in sending this request for appropriation.”

Board of Finance member Edward Pocock Jr. said he believes there are still aspects of overtime costs to look at, such as using training officers on day shifts to fill the needs of a seventh paid firefighter, but he believes the request is valid and necessary.

The department is also not the only one who needed overtime to meet needs either. The Southington Police Department requested a transfer of $96,000 on Wednesday to cover overtime, but was able to use money saved during contract negotiations that were not complete when the fiscal year started to fund the need.

With the transfer, the town should now be set in terms of funding overtime needs for the remainder of the fiscal year and is a good position to remain in the black, Board Vice-Chairman Joseph Labieniec said.

“The contingency is now at $484,000 (after Wednesday’s appropriation),” he said.  “One of biggest things to hit the town is overtime and I think we should now have enough money with that appropriation to fund the needs through the end of year. We appear to be in very good shape.”

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