Board approves 10 new firefighter positions to reduce overtime and bolster staffing

Mount Vernon — The Board of Estimate and Contract on Aug. 25 approved an ordinance creating 10 firefighter positions in the 2025 city budget and transferring funds from the contingent fund to the fire department salary line to address mounting overtime and staffing shortfalls.

City officials said the additions are intended to reduce overtime costs that have accumulated over recent years and to restore staffing so the department can staff additional apparatus and shorten response times. Commissioner Holt, who presented the item, said the city has repeatedly covered minimum staffing with overtime and that adding personnel will improve firefighter safety and service to residents. "By adding 10 personnel, we are convinced that we can curb this overtime and we can also provide a better service to the citizens of Mount Vernon," Commissioner Holt said.

Why it matters: Fire department leaders and city finance staff said overtime has driven substantial unbudgeted spending. Officials described the department as operating with four engines, two trucks and a battalion car but still short of a rescue unit, a third truck and a fifth engine. The department currently staffs a mandatory minimum of 19 personnel per shift; when anyone is out on vacation, sick leave or injured, officials said the department must backfill those posts with overtime or take apparatus out of service.

Discussion and timeline: Fire department representatives and the administration told the board the city has spent millions on overtime in recent years and that delaying hires would push costlier overtime into 2026 because of scheduled contractual pay increases. A finance official present said the immediate cost of adding the 10 positions — including salary and benefits through December — is about $240,000, and argued that hiring now will reduce larger overtime expenses next year. Officials also described an implementation plan that would enable promotions for senior officers in December and assign academy graduates to fill frontline ranks in early 2026; speakers warned that if hiring waits until a later academy class, the next graduates would not be available until mid-2026.

Formal action: The ordinance to add 10 firefighter positions passed on roll call. The board also approved a related salary resolution to add the positions to the department payroll. Each vote recorded on the transcript was "Aye," and the clerk announced the measures passed.

What the board said and asked: Board members pressed department leaders and finance staff for fiscal justification and for continued monitoring of overtime trends. A finance official said the administration had audited overtime and was coordinating with fire leadership on efforts to reduce it. Officials said they will continue to monitor overtime and staffing as new facilities and projects come online.

Limits of the record: The ordinance authorizes the positions and the intra-budget transfer; the transcript does not include final long-term cost projections, labor-union agreements, or detailed academy class schedules beyond the comments recorded at the meeting. Specific names of some fire leadership who were described as present ("chief of operations") did not appear in the transcript as speaking; the record identifies Teddy Beal as deputy commissioner of the fire department and Commissioner Holt as the councilor who presented the item.

Looking ahead: Officials said they expect the hires and internal promotions to reduce overtime pressure through 2026 and to improve fire-response capacity and firefighter safety, but they also said they will monitor expenditures and adjust tactics if overtime does not fall as anticipated.