Commissioners say more firefighter cost reductions needed

A plan to trim Clark County firefighters' overtime by forming a relief staff that would be paid straight time to fill in for absent co-workers is not enough to avoid contract concessions, two county commissioners said Monday.

Commissioners Steve Sisolak and Rory Reid praised the Fire Department's plan to eliminate about 40 jobs and divert those employees to a relief team, saving about $4.5 million in overtime.

The relief team is similar to the "rovers" who substitute for city of Las Vegas firefighters who miss work because of illness, vacation or other reasons. They receive regular pay instead of time and a half.

Sisolak, a staunch critic of firefighters' compensation, and Reid, who is running for governor, said the move doesn't address the other labor costs ingrained in the union contract.

"I don't think we're close to done," Reid said. "The personnel costs of the Fire Department are not sustainable. We need to find a way to reduce the personnel costs, with or without the union's help."

Sisolak said he wants firefighters to offer substantial concessions in pay raises, salaries and benefits to prevent employees in other departments from getting laid off in the economic slump.

"We have to come up with a way to balance the budget that treats everybody fairly," Sisolak said.

Ryan Beaman, head of the county firefighters union, didn't return phone calls seeking comment Monday.

Shuffling firefighters into different jobs to cut overtime costs requires neither the commission's nor the union's approval. County Manager Virginia Valentine outlined the plan in a memo last week.

The changes are scheduled to take effect by July 1, the start of the next budget year.

Four units will be discontinued: heavy rescue, hazardous materials and two associated teams. That will allow the county to divert six captains, 12 engineers and 18 firefighters to the relief staff.

The city's technical rescue and hazardous-materials units will handle calls in the county, "in turn reducing the imbalance of mutual aid calls that our Fire Department responds to within the city's jurisdiction," Valentine wrote.

Eliminating the four crews shouldn't affect emergency response times, she said. The technical rescue and hazardous-materials teams lack the equipment to suppress fires, and they respond infrequently to medical calls. So the remaining engine companies within the stations can absorb their emergency calls, she wrote.

Some administrative jobs will be scrapped, including fire systems coordinator, logistics officer, public information officer and emergency medical services supervisor.

In a separate move, the county will quit staffing a vehicle that transports breathing equipment to fires and a truck that hauls water to out-of-the-way blazes.

The trucks will be used as needed, and the firefighters no longer assigned to them will join the relief team, saving an additional $1 million in overtime.

In all, the county will shave about
$5.5 million from firefighters' overtime costs. Last year, firefighters rang up more than $15 million in overtime.

Sisolak said firefighters have told him they would be willing to make concessions to save other workers' jobs. Many of the firefighters have no idea what the union leaders are negotiating, he said.

"The majority of firefighters want to make a concession," Sisolak said.