Two months into a new schedule for firefighters, the city of Providence is saving money on its fire department overall, but not a lot. Total costs were down about $10,000 in September compared with the same month last year, according to city data obtained by the NBC 10 I-Team.
Meanwhile, city numbers show the cost of callback pay continues to rise. Callback is the practice of calling firefighters in to fill empty shifts. Last month, callback pay cost Providence $777,960, compared with $532,459 in September 2014. That's an increase of just under $250,000.
The fire department saw a similar increase in August, the first full month after Mayor Jorge Elorza announced the move from four shifts to three longer ones. Callback pay cost $943,799 in August 2015, compared with $648,212 in August 2014. That represented an increase of just under $300,000.
Firefighters Union President Paul Doughty responded to the September numbers Thursday, telling NBC 10 in an email, " [the City] risked $700,000 to save $10,000. Hardly a prudent fiscal move for a city on brink of insolvency."