8B1 BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS AGENDA ITEM SUMMARY PLACEMENT: DEPARTMENTAL PRESET: TITLE: STAFFING FOR ADEQUATE FIRE AND EMERGENCY SERVICES (SAFER) GRANT AND FIRE RESCUE OVERTIME UPDATE AGENDA ITEM DATES: MEETING DATE: 4/19/2011 COMPLETED DATE: 4/7/2011 COUNTY ATTORNEY: 3/28/2011 ASSISTANT COUNTY ADMINISTRATOR: 4/4/2011 REQUESTED BY: DEPARTMENT: PREPARED BY: Name: Joseph V. Ferrara Fire Rescue Margy Mills Name: Fire Rescue Chief Procedures: None EXECUTIVE SUMMARY: Executive Aide The Board directed the Fire Rescue staff to present quarterly reports on the SAFER Grant and the impact on the Fire Rescue Department s overtime. APPROVAL: CA BACKGROUND/RELATED STRATEGIC GOAL: In January 2009, Martin County received approval of the SAFER grant from the Department of Homeland Security. The Board of County Commissioners accepted the grant in the amount of $3,576,540 to hire 33 firefighters and receive reimbursement for salaries over 5 years on a sliding 801db4bb PDF Page 1 of 14
scale. The employees were hired on April 23 rd, 2009 which coincided with the start date of the grant period. ISSUES: Since April 23 rd, 2009, the employees have entered the Fire Rescue training programs to prepare for functioning as a Firefighter/EMT and a Firefighter/Paramedic. Out of the 33 employees hired, 23 have completed their advanced paramedic training. The SAFER hire has had a significant impact on overtime usage in Fire Rescue. Since the SAFER hire, overtime has been on a steady decline. Overtime savings attributed to SAFER since April 23, 2009 is $3,741,129. This represents an excess of 40% average decline in overtime used over the last 26 pay periods and an overall 78% decline since grant inception. Fire Rescue overtime is still on track to be the lowest in over 10 years. RECOMMENDED ACTION: RECOMMENDATION Accept the Fire Rescue Department Director s report as presented. ALTERNATIVE RECOMMENDATIONS None FISCAL IMPACT: RECOMMENDATION None Funding Source County Funds Non-County Funds Authorization Subtotal Project Total ALTERNATIVE RECOMMENDATIONS None DOCUMENT(S) REQUIRING ACTION: 801db4bb PDF Page 2 of 14
Budget Transfer / Amendment Chair Letter Contract / Agreement Grant / Application Notice Ordinance Resolution Other: ROUTING: _ ADM _ BLD _ CDD _ COM _ ENG _ FRD _ GMD _ GSD _ ITS _ LIB _ MCA _ MPO _ PRD _ USD X CA _ ACA _ LEG 801db4bb PDF Page 3 of 14
Martin County Fire Rescue Department SAFER Grant Quarterly Report April 19 th, 2011 PDF Page 4 of 14
SAFER Update April 23 rd, 2009 33 employees hired under the SAFER grant April 23 rd, 2011 24 months of grant complete 23 of the 33 SAFER hires have completed Paramedic training PDF Page 5 of 14
SAFER Update Total salary and benefits cost of new hires since beginning of SAFER (2 Years) - $4,351,865 Federal Share $2,417,613 County Share $1,934,252 Overtime with benefits FY10 vs. FY11 year to date is $256,160 less than previous year. FY09 vs. FY11 YTD is $922,226 less Gross overtime savings since SAFER hires $3,741,129 based on $76,350 average per pay period savings Previous average savings per pay period was $73,562 Net Savings to County $1,806,878(based upon average per pay period vs. overtime cost with benefits prior to SAFER) Further Savings will continue PDF Page 6 of 14
Life after SAFER It will cost approximately $2,145,000 annually to cover salary and benefits for the SAFER hires, and $650,000 for all Operations overtime expenses. Total=$2,795,000 Prior to SAFER, OT costs with benefits were exceeding $3,250,000 annually and were growing at an avg. rate of 9% / year since 1998 The result is a savings of $455,000 prior to factoring in the Federal reimbursement PDF Page 7 of 14
Overtime -Today Since SAFER the average OT hours have continued to drop Average 798 hrs per pay period since SAFER inception Average has decreased this quarter by another 48 hours Average since inception has decreased by 1244 hours Recent Pay Period (pp6) the total overtime was 263 hours This represents 1.3% of the hours in a pay period PDF Page 8 of 14
Overtime- Averages Excess of 40% average decline in overtime used over the last 26 pay periods and an overall 78% decline since grant inception Pay Period Avg Hrs Avg Cost 1-9 2042 $ 99,757 10-14 1765 $ 86,799 15-20 1413 $ 71,681 21-26 796 $ 39,714 1-7 769 $ 38,835 8-13 551 $ 29,601 14-19 367 $ 19,747 20-26 484 $ 26,570 1-6 454 $ 25,663 PDF Page 9 of 14
Overtime $3,000,000.00 Fire Rescue MSTU Overtime $2,500,000.00 $2,000,000.00 $1,500,000.00 $1,000,000.00 $500,000.00 $0.00 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 PDF Page 10 of 14
Overtime- Averages Overtime $120,000 2500 $100,000 2000 $80,000 1500 $60,000 $40,000 1000 Avg Cost Avg Hrs $20,000 500 Target Hours $- 1-9 10-14 15-20 21-26 1-7 8-13 14-19 20-26 1-6 0 Pay Period (2009) (2011) PDF Page 11 of 14
Overtime Steps taken to Reduce Overtime Hiring of 33 Floaters Promoted Officer Floaters Restructured Special Team Staffing Procedures Restructured Training Procedures Restructured procedures for time off requests Analysis Continues PDF Page 12 of 14
Conclusion The hiring of floaters to cover vacancies is reducing overtime by nearly 80% Overtime estimates versus actual are beginning to stabilize Fire Rescue Overtime Still on track to be lowest in over 10 years! PDF Page 13 of 14
SAFER and Overtime Discussion? Questions? PDF Page 14 of 14