Item #3 Proposed Adjustments to Fire Staffing Model — original pdf

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M E M O R A N D U M TO: Mayor and City Council THROUGH: T.C. Broadnax, City Manager Ed Van Eenoo, Chief Financial Officer Eddie Garcia, Assistant City Manager FROM: Kerri Lang, Director, Budget and Organizational Excellence Chief Joel G. Baker, Austin Fire Department DATE: July 28, 2025 SUBJECT: Proposed Adjustments to Fire Staffing Model The purpose of this memorandum is to provide additional context to the proposed adjustment to the fire staffing model as included in the FY 2026 Budget. It is important to note that the proposal does not recommend rescinding the four-person staffing model. Rather, it is the intent to maintain the four- person staffing model while providing flexibility to maintain continuous operations and avoiding unnecessary service reductions or excessive overtime. A draft of the recommended changes to the existing four-person staffing ordinance is attached for your reference. Current Staffing Model. Austin Fire Department’s operations staffing model is designed to ensure that an adequate number of sworn personnel are scheduled and available to provide fire/emergency response 24 hours a day, 365 days per year. Austin Fire operates three firefighter shifts across a 19-day work period. Each shift is scheduled on-duty for 24 hours and then off-duty for 48 hours. The department currently has 54 fire stations across the city, with 50 engines and 17 specialized apparatuses strategically assigned at these stations. In total, the department has 67 firefighting units. Four firefighters are currently required to staff each unit on each shift. With a total of 67 firefighting units, the department must staff 268 positions for each of the three firefighter shifts. The Department currently assigns 355 firefighters to each shift, which is 87 firefighters (32%) above the required 268 positions to meet four-person staffing levels. The current staffing model allows for 25% of firefighters to be absent from their scheduled shift before the Department needs to begin backfilling absent positions—often using overtime—to ensure four-person staffing on each apparatus. High Absentee Rate. Over the past several years, Austin Fire has begun to experience significant increases in the rate of firefighters absent from their scheduled shifts, with the absentee rate reaching 39% in FY 2023 and remaining above 36% since FY 2022. Although the Department schedules 87 more firefighters than the minimum of 268 firefighters required per shift, the number of firefighters actually in attendance for their scheduled shift is frequently less than the number of personnel necessary to staff all units with four people. Currently, on average, the Department must pay an overtime rate to fill 45 of the 268 Page 1 of 3 required positions per day with a firefighter not scheduled for that shift. The number of leave hours used per year and the resulting absence rate is presented in Chart 1. Total Leave Hours per Year. Notably, each year exceeds the 25% absence rate that can be absorbed by the current staffing model. Chart 1. Total Leave Hours per Year 1,000,000 750,000 500,000 250,000 - FY18 FY19 FY20 FY21 FY22 FY23 FY24 Leave Hours Absence Rate 654,783 29% 698,269 30% 682,652 30% 758,960 33% 854,615 36% 940,638 39% 874,525 36% Overtime Cost Driver. As illustrated in Chart 2. Austin Fire – Operation Overtime Expenditures, sworn overtime costs continue to be a budgetary stressor for the Department, and for the City as a whole. Austin Fire has experienced overtime costs in excess of budgeted levels for the past four years. In FY 2018, the Department was experiencing a large number of vacancies, which led to the heavy utilization of overtime in order to ensure minimum staffing levels. However, as a result of successful recruitment efforts, the vacancy rate dropped and overtime expenditures reduced by almost 30% in FY 2019. Austin Fire’s sworn vacancy rate currently stands at 7.5% and is no longer a significant driver of overtime spending. Chart 2. Austin Fire - Operations Overtime Expenditures (in millions) 13.6 11.8 11.7 10.7 8.5 7.4 17.2 14.3 8.6 9.0 15.2 13.1 11.7 9.6 20.0 M 15.0 M 10.0 M 5.0 M .0 M FY18 FY19 FY20 FY21 FY22 FY23 FY24 Overtime Budget Overtime Expense Added time costs are not strictly incurred to meet minimal staffing levels. Special Events and Fire Marshal’s Office, both units within Austin Fire, incur added time costs associated with permitting and inspection activities that generate offsetting fee revenue. Unforeseen events, such as bad weather— for instance, the response to Winter Storm Uri in FY 2021—may require additional fire personnel to provide emergency response and cause a temporary spike in overtime expenditure. However, the primary driver of increased added time utilization since FY 2019 has been the increase in the frequency with which firefighters do not work their assigned shifts. Page 2 of 3 Proposed Staffing Model. The proposed adjustment to the fire staffing model maintains the Department’s current staffing schedule: three shifts with 355 positions assigned to each shift. If all firefighters are in attendance for their scheduled shift, then every firefighting unit would approach a five-person staffing level. Four-person staffing would be achieved without the use of overtime if 75% or more of firefighters were in attendance for their scheduled shift. The proposed adjustment does not reduce the number of firefighters assigned per unit, nor does it reduce the Department’s total authorized strength. The proposed adjustment, including amending the attached ordinance that mandates the Department staff with 268 positions daily, attempts to mitigate significant added time costs that have accumulated due to absence rates in excess of 36% for the past several years. Maintaining Current Fire Response Plan. Austin Fire will maintain its current response plan which exceeds the National Fire Protection Agency (NFPA) recommendation. NFPA recommends 17 personnel on-scene for a structure fire. Currently, in the event of a structure fire, Austin Fire deploys 32 firefighters to the scene. Under the proposal, the department’s response plan would deploy the same number of firefighting units; however, the number of firefighters on-scene would be dependent on the daily attendance, varying from 24 to 32 personnel on-scene. Even at the minimum level of 24 personnel on-scene, the department exceeds the NFPA recommended level of response and achieves the “two-in/two-out” standard that protects firefighter safety. The Department will continue to ensure, including using backfill and overtime, that four firefighters are available to staff its 13 aerials, four rescues that specifically require four personnel to operate safely and effectively, and two engines per the Emergency Service District 4 (ESD 4) agreement requirements. With respect to its engine units, the Department will continue to schedule five firefighters on each shift but will operate these units with three to five personnel depending on the number of firefighters who report to their assigned shift. In the event of especially high absences on a shift, the Department will backfill and utilize overtime to ensure that engines are staffed with a minimum of three personnel. Summary. Austin Fire’s FY 2026 Budget includes $10.2 million for overtime, a $6.1 million net decrease from the FY 2025 budgeted level. This net decrease is the result of $8.2 million in anticipated savings from the proposed adjustments to the staffing model from lowering the mandatory overtime threshold for engines, offset by $2.1 million increase for after-hour inspections and stand-by apparatuses at special events. Under the attached proposed draft ordinance, assuming firefighters work their assigned shifts, the Department will: • • • Continue to staff with five firefighters per response unit (355 firefighters per shift) Continue to exceed the NFPA recommendation, sending 24 to 32 firefighters to a structure fire Enable the Department to reduce dependency on overtime by $8.2 million during FY2026. Should you have any questions or concerns, please contact Kerri Lang, Director of Budget and Organizational Excellence at kerri.lang@austintexas.gov or Chief Baker at joel.baker@austintexas.gov. cc: Erika Brady, City Clerk Corrie Stokes, City Auditor Judge Sherry Statman, Presiding Judge Mary Jane Grubb, Municipal Court Clerk CMO Executive Team Department Directors Attachment: Draft Firefighter Staffing Ordinance Page 3 of 3 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 ORDINANCE NO. AN ORDINANCE AMENDING ORDINANCE NO. 20181213-045 TO REVISE THE FOUR-PERSON STAFFING REQUIREMENT FOR ALL FIRE DEPARTMENT EMERGENCY RESPONSE APPARATUS. BE IT ORDAINED BY THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF AUSTIN: PART 1. Part 1. Of Ordinance No. 202181213-045 is amended to read as follows: PART 1. The Council makes the following findings: (A) The Council recognizes public safety as a top priority. (B) The Austin Fire Department is tasked with protecting the lives and property of the residents of Austin. (C) Staffing studies, including the 1993 Austin Fire Department Staffing Study, have shown that four-person firefighter staffing has a positive impact on safety and efficiency during Fire Department operations. (D) National studies funded by the Department of Homeland Security and conducted by the National Institute of Standards and Technology and Worcester Polytechnic Institute studied the effect of crew size on performance at residential fires, high rise fires, and emergency medical incidents, and have validated the results of the 1993 Austin Fire Department Staffing Study. (E) The City of Austin began working toward four-person staffing in the early 1990s and achieved constant four-person staffing shortly after receiving a SAFER Grant in 2012. (F) The National Fire Protection Association’s NFPA 1710 Standard requires a minimum of four firefighters per each firefighting apparatus. (G) Texas Commission on Fire Protection Rule 435.17(a)(1) requires that a team of at least four fire protection personnel must be assembled before an interior fire attack can be performed when a fire has progressed beyond the incipient stage. Page 1 of 3 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 (H) The Austin Fire Department’s current policies and practices require constant staffing of four firefighters on all front-line emergency response apparatus. (I) Critical emergency response calls require at least four-person firefighter staffing on each apparatus to safely and efficiently mitigate the hazards encountered by firefighters. (J) Due to firefighter absences or unavailability to work in operations positions, staffing shortages can arise which may require deviation from the four-person staffing requirement to allow for continuous operations while avoiding fire station brown or black-outs, excessive mandatory overtime for Austin Fire Department firefighters, or both. 39 PART 2. Part 2. Of Ordinance No. 202181213-045 is amended to read as follows: PART 2. All Austin Fire Department engine companies, ladder companies, quint companies, and rescue companies actively engaged in an emergency response shall be staffed with a minimum of four firefighters. Provided, however: (A) This requirement does not apply to apparatus used in a supervisory or support capacity; (B) This requirement does not apply in the presence of any of the conditions defined in Part C of resource condition Level III (Emergency), or higher, in the Austin Fire Department emergency operations plan, General Order Number G301.1, effective date 10/1/2011; (C) If rare, catastrophic emergency response conditions exist, the city manager may alter staffing levels to best adapt to the conditions present, in which case, this requirement does not apply and the city manager shall notify council; [and] (D) [Engine, l]Ladder, quint, or rescue companies may be staffed with three firefighters for a period normally not to exceed three hours in the event of unforeseen staffing shortages, as determined by the fire chief; and (E) Engine companies may be staffed with three firefighters in the event of staffing shortages, as determined by the fire chief. 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 Page 2 of 3 PART 3. This ordinance becomes effective ________________. PASSED AND APPROVED , 2025 § § § ______________________________ Kirk Watson Mayor APPROVED:___________________ ATTEST:_______________________ Deborah Thomas City Attorney Erika Brady City Clerk 59 60 61 62 63 64 65 66 67 68 69 70 71 72 Page 3 of 3