Findlay council committee flags rising overtime, staff says training and vacancies are main drivers

Councilman Dong opened the finance committee’s discussion of municipal overtime on June 2, citing multi‑year totals and warning of a renewed run toward a roughly $1 million annual figure. “In 2023 we had $874,878,” Dong said, and reported the transparency site shows $499,152 year‑to‑date for the current year.

A city staff member told the committee the rise is largely structural: higher wages, required 24/7 services and a prolonged hiring and training pipeline for public‑safety positions. “We have four, five police officers in training orientation on the road and one in the academy,” the staff member said, noting the city is paying both trainers and trainees during overlap periods and covering vacancies with overtime. The staff member added similar pressures for fire and dispatch—plus weather and water‑main emergencies—drive additional overtime hours.

Members asked whether reimbursed off‑duty assignments for private events (for example, school or university games) are included in the overtime totals. Staff said those off‑duty, privately reimbursed assignments are not broken out in the figure cited and are believed to be a small share; the bulk of overtime pays for patrol coverage and training backfill.

Council and staff discussed a 70‑officer target for the police roster, but staff said churn—retirements, FMLA and military leave—has slowed progress toward that target. The staff member told the committee an overall recruitment and staffing plan is being prepared: “we have the plan laid out that we have on paper right now” and it will be brought back for council discussion in budget season, when recurring personnel costs would be decided.

Committee members asked that staff tighten monitoring ahead of the budget process and to provide a breakout of reimbursed off‑duty assignments. The committee made no formal motions or votes on the item; the discussion will inform the finance committee’s upcoming budget review.