Reno's Fire and Police Departments presented their overtime usage to the Reno City Council Wednesday afternoon.
This comes after there were public concerns with the amount of overtime taken by some city workers.
"There's no context to it and so we really wanted to get some context out there, at the mayor's request, for the city council. But also, for the public so they understand not just what we spend overtime on, why we spend it, and the consequences on not spending it," said Chief Dave Cochran, Reno Fire Department.
"Where I think we failed is to really explain why we have to, and there's a lot of uncertainty in what we do," said Reno Mayor Hillary Schieve during the meeting.
The presentation started with why the overtime is used, citing that emergencies are unpredictable.
Then both Chiefs talked about how their respective agency uses overtime.
"We have to work 24 hours a day, seven days a week. So, we have to work every holiday. I have to have all this staffed, and we might lower our staffing levels based on needs and calls," said Chief Kathryn Nance, Reno Police Department.
Chief Nance says working holidays, covering shifts, and mandated court appearances play a part.
Both agencies said they use overtime to deal with staffing challenges because, due to budget constraints, the city is not looking to hire.
"The other piece of the overtime versus a full-time employee is that its scalable," Chief Cochran said. "If I just need one shift, I don't have to just hire an employee, I can use that overtime and just pay for that shift. It's actually cheaper to do it that way. So, in the peak seasons, I can add those shifts."
The overtime is also needed for both trainings and certifications.
Also, they say sometimes overtime hours can be reimbursed, like when Reno firefighters have to go across state lines.
"It shows up as a blip on the overtime radar and someone who looked at it at a moment in time will see that the overtime might be extraordinarily high, but it's not, because we are having these assignments go above and beyond what we normally do," Chief Cochran said. "We're paying that overtime, but that overtime is reimbursed back into the city."Â
Reno Police says they get reimbursed through grants and working special events.
Expected overtime is included in the adopted budget.
Both departments say overtime hours have to be approved by a supervisor.
The mayor and council members seemed pleased with the presentation and didn't express many concerns with its usage.
