As government agencies across the state look to cut costs, Anchorage Fire chief Denis Leblanc said he’s focusing on overtime overruns to better balance their budget.
Leblanc told the Anchorage Assembly Budget and Finance Committee on Thursday, fire administration will be “managing aggressively Anchorage Fire Department staffing across all 13 stations,” watching operational levels and vacation requests to prevent another year of budget overages due to “excessive overtime.”
Leblanc said last year’s overtime payouts went $1.6 million over-budget. He attributed the overruns to mismanaged vacation allowances over the summer, causing multiple callbacks of firefighters and emergency crews to fill mandated positions.
According to assistant fire chief Alex Boyd, agreements require 97 AFD employees to be staffed across the city each day.