EASTON, Pa. — Following concerns linked to an abundance of overtime claims, Easton’s Fire Department will not require a budget amendment to maintain operations until the end of the year after all.
Even though the department exceeded its $525,000 2024 budget by around $50,000 by mid-September, city administrators were able to move some funding to balance the total without requiring a budget amendment and dipping into the general fund.
City Administrator Luis Campos said the largest factors contributing to the overtime issue were vacancies in the department, the “fifth man” — an additional firefighter on a crew sent out to calls — and sick time.
"Fortunately — if we want to say so — the overages in overtime are going to be less than what we're saving on the salaries line."Easton Finance Director Mark Lysynecky
Those factors made up 29.6%, 23.7%, and 17.9% of the total overtime budget, Campos said.
During Wednesday’s council meeting, Easton Finance Director Mark Lysynecky said after discussing the matter with Fire Chief Henry Hennings, they found a significant portion of those vacancies were attributed to firefighters taking Family Medical Leave Act time off so they could attend to newborn children.
“We also then looked at the projections through the end of the year, looking at the run rate and what the fire department estimated for overtime, based again on some of these vacancies, etc., and then comparing that to the salaries line that we have for fire,” Lysynecky said.
“We did find that, again, those same vacancies where we're not paying folks on the salaries line, we are incurring expenses on the overtime line.
"Fortunately — if we want to say so — the overages in overtime are going to be less than what we're saving on the salaries line. So, in short, we won't need a budget amendment to account for that.”
With the return of some of those firefighters from FMLA, overtime for the remainder of the year will likely fall under the peak rates which led to the overages.
In June 2024, Easton welcomed six firefighters to their ranks: Devin Demkowicz, Adam Norder, Luke Thorpe, Kevin Klosz, Robert Jazikoff, and Tyler Hazlett.
Those recruits will complete their probationary period with the department in early 2025.
According to Campos, the city administration is required to announce council if a line item exceeds the budget, since the fire department’s overall budget fell within its limitations, such an action was unnecessary.
Campos said the city will continue to follow the department’s budget on a month-to-month basis “like we normally do.”
Easton Fire Chief Henry Hennings was set to deliver a presentation to the city council on Wednesday evening but had to postpone the event to October 6, 2024, and was unavailable for questions.
