With Three New Firefighters Coming to Town, a Councilman Looks at the Financial Impact

On his blog, Mark Olbert chimed in a few days ago about the Council's authorization Monday night to add three firefighters to the San Carlos Fire Department and the financial impact.

From Olbert's blog:

Staff expects this expansion to have no significant long-term financial impact. Why? Because more firefighters will mean less overtime to cover training, medical leaves, vacation, resignations, etc.

Over time pay - and whether the city spends too much - has been a contentious issue, as many believe the fire fighters earn the extra pay, considering San Carlos' pay scale is in the lower tier when considering Peninsula cities. 

From Olbert's blog:

What’s causing the level of overtime we’re experiencing? Given the department is barely more than six months old there isn’t a clear answer, yet. The overtime we’re seeking to displace could be the result of normal operations (e.g., normal medical leaves, training needs). Certainly some portion of it is.

But turnover could be a factor, too. We have lost a couple of firefighters recently, one to Belmont and one to Mountain View, over what appears to be compensation. Those other communities pay more.

Olbert also addresses upfront costs, though these will not be recurring, and one-time costs may put less of a strain on the cities long-term financial plans.

From Olbert's blog:

It can take six to twelve months, sometimes longer, before a new firefighter can take over all of the necessary roles. During that time we’ll be incurring costs but not receiving the benefit of reduced overtime expenses. I don’t know what the magnitude of that investment will be (staff didn’t have the figure available; I’ve asked them to prepare one), but if I had to guess I’d say it’s probably between $200,000 and $300,000. That’s because a full year of salary and benefits for the three new positions is about $380,000, and the training/certification cycle can last around a year.

What do you think about the addition of three new firefighters? What are your thoughts on their compensation? Let us know in the comments!