Houston on path to overspend $55M on overtime for public safety, solid waste

HOUSTON, Texas (KTRK) -- In the City of Houston, the overtime bill keeps piling up. A report from City Controller Chris Hollins' office showed the Houston Police Department and the Houston Fire Department top the list, but Solid Waste is the biggest overtime spender among civilian departments.

Hollins says the overtime problem has been around for a while. He points out that the latest report shows it is getting worse, and he has raised concerns about it before.

"Last year, my office flagged this exact same issue when we went $70 million over the budget then," Hollins said. "Now we're going over again dramatically, and it wasn't a surprise. This was entirely predictable."

Hollins said the city is on track to exceed $55 million in overtime costs.

"We have to get this under control, plain and simple," Hollins said.

The report showed Solid Waste employees average 21 hours of overtime every pay period, which is about $19,000 extra per year. HPD overtime is projected to exceed the budget by $13.2 million, according to the report. But Hollins said generally, that is the amount of overtime Solid Waste and HPD tend to have.

"We could also acknowledge that this kind of overtime is what we need for a city this large to operate," Hollins said. "Then you have to budget for that. And again, figure out how to pay for it."

However, Hollins pointed out that the data with the fire department looked a bit different.

"The Houston Fire Department's overtime is projected to be about 40% above the five-year average," Hollins said. "That's a bigger issue that needs to be looked at."

Those departments have implemented new strategies to try and address staffing shortages that have impacted overtime spending, according to Hollins.

"We know other things have been tried, whether that was hiring or retention incentives, big raises for all city employees," Hollins said. "But especially large ones for police officers and firefighters. We were told that this will solve the issue, but it hasn't."

If spending continues in this way, Hollins warns the city could face a budget deficit as high as $253 million by fiscal year 2027. Down the line, he said that could impact critical services the city provides.

"In a couple of years' time, we would run out of money if we don't change anything," Hollins said.

Hollins said his office plans to complete audits on those departments to look at their management of overtime and identify possible instances of waste or misuse.

He said they expect to have the results by late spring to early summer.

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