Firefighters Paid Too Much Overtime | Lincoln News

0:00It's September 8th. This is Lincoln News today, AI-powered stories from your city. I'm Cory with the story. State auditor Mike Foley is raising a red flag about overtime pay for Lincoln Fire and Rescue. Last year, firefighters racked up over $7 million in overtime. The top earners weren't just getting a little extra. Some were pulling in an additional $45,000 on average, pushing their yearly. Pay into the $160,000 range. The fire chief, David Engler, pushed back a bit, saying they have to keep the city covered 24-7. He pointed out that they gave the auditor all the info and that the auditor didn't see a need for a full financial audit right now. Engler also mentioned that new stations, more medic units, and employee leave all contribute to the overtime hours. This isn't exactly new territory. We've seen reports about Lincoln Fire and Rescue's overtime costs, climbing for years, hitting over $6 million just last year. They've been adding new positions, some funded by federal grants, to try and get that

1:01number down. But it seems like they're still asking firefighters to put in extra hours. Now Foley is also calling out the city for not doing performance audits. He says the city code requires them, but it looks like they haven't happened in over 10 years. He even noted that the committee supposed to oversee these audits hasn't met in five years, calling it a special kind of neglect. Foley believes these performance audits could help get a handle on those excessive overtime costs. It's a situation where the city's safety needs are clashing with taxpayer dollars, and the auditor thinks a closer look at how things are run is long. Overdo.