Question 1: How much did the city spend on overtime last year?
In total the city spent over $149 million paying overtime last year. That’s a slight increase of $13 million compared to 2023.
Austin Overtime, 2024
|
Police
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$ 58,206,714
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Fire
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$ 22,737,501
|
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Austin Energy
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$ 20,136,314
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Emergency Medical Services
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$ 19,500,891
|
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Austin Water
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$ 11,731,419
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Question 2: The fire department’s overtime has been in the headlines for a long time. Have they decreased their spending?
The fire department is the biggest story here.
The city has been tracking and auditing them since 2017 to reduce their overtime spending. But we’ve learned that last year, the fire department spent more on overtime than they did in 2017, meaning all these audits and reforms have had little impact.
A 2023 audit found the fire department was constantly outspending its budget for overtime. The fire chief submitted
a plan to City Council to reduce overtime spending, and the city told the fire department not to spend more than $9.5 million on overtime. Instead, they spent $17 million.
Now we’ve learned that in 2024, their overtime spending jumped again all the way up to $23 million. That’s the most in the history of the department, breaking the old record of $18 million in 2017.
Question 3: Who were the highest overtime earners in the city?
Governor Abbott makes $153,750 per year. Last year there were 32 Austin employees who made more than that just in overtime — not even counting their regular salary.
The top 16 overtime earners in the city last year were all police officers.
One detective made $256,000 in overtime alone. Combined with his regular salary he made $336,000 - more than anyone else in the city besides the city manager and his assistant and the head of Austin Energy.
Question 4: The police are usually spending the most on overtime, but how does this compare to previous years?
Police Overtime
  2023 2024
Total Spent $53 million $58 million
Number of Overtime Earners 1,950 2,395
The police department accounts for 14% of Austin’s payroll but 40% of the city’s overtime.
Last year the police blamed the problem on staffing shortages and said they were creating a “reserve office” of retired cops they could use to staff large events without paying overtime.
They made progress on the staffing shortages - the police payroll has 400 more people on it than in 2023 - but overtime payments still went up $5 million.