JACKSONVILLE, Fla. \u2014 Action News Jax has learned the Jacksonville Fire and Rescue Department will analyze how it utilizes overtime spending, and possible sick leave abuse, after Action News Jax\u2019s Ben Becker started asking questions. <\/p>\n
It comes as Jacksonville heads into budget season, and city leaders are preparing to go over all aspects of spending.<\/p>\n
>>> STREAM ACTION NEWS JAX LIVE <\/b><\/a><\/p>\n An Action News Jax investigation reveals that JFRD\u2019s budget has ballooned nearly 30% over the past three years, with overtime costs soaring by nearly 50% and no formal audit has been called.<\/p>\n Budget breakdown: A growing price tag<\/b><\/p>\n Since the 2022\u201323 fiscal year, JFRD\u2019s budget has grown from $345 million to a proposed $434 million for 2025\u201326. That\u2019s a jump of nearly $90 million. City officials say the increase is largely due to a historic union agreement that includes salary raises and a return to a defined benefit pension plan.<\/p>\n But it\u2019s the overtime spike that\u2019s becoming a growing inferno. JFRD\u2019s annual overtime spending jumped from $21 million in 2022 to $30 million in 2024 and the department is on pace to exceed its overtime budget by $4.5 million this fiscal year alone.<\/p>\n RELATED: <\/b>Jacksonville mayor unveils $2 billion budget proposal<\/b><\/a><\/p>\n Who\u2019s earning six figures in OT?<\/b><\/p>\n Internal payroll data obtained by Becker shows that five firefighters have earned over $100,000 in overtime in 2024. Among them is Captain Nnaemeka Ibeabuchi, who has reportedly cleared six figures in OT for five consecutive years.<\/p>\n A deeper look into City of Jacksonville human resources interview transcripts from the recent fire chief interview process, where Percy Golden was selected by Jacksonville Mayor Donna Deegan\u2019s office, shows three other candidates specifically cited overtime as a major issue within the department: District Chief Tim Nguyen, Engineer Michael Pluhacek, and Chief of Recruitment Renaldo Horn.<\/p>\n \u201cDo you think overtime is being abused?\u201d Becker asked JFRD Battalion Chief Chip Drysdale. <\/p>\n \u201cI would consider it unsustainable as a department. It\u2019s definitely driving our budget,\u201d Drysdale said. <\/p>\n The human cost: Safety, sleep deprivation, and stress<\/b><\/p>\n Drysdale said firefighters often work three to five 24-hour shifts in a row. <\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019ve worked doubles where I didn\u2019t get a wink of sleep. On your second shift, you can\u2019t even tell someone your name, let alone make critical decisions,\u201d he said. \u201cIt can be very dangerous. For you or anybody else.\u201d<\/p>\n A Harvard study found 40% of firefighters are sleep deprived, which is linked to higher rates of cancer, cardiac arrest, and suicide.<\/p>\n Unlike other city employees, firefighters can volunteer for virtually unlimited overtime, raising concerns about physical and mental health.<\/p>\n [SIGN UP: <\/b>Action News Jax Daily Headlines Newsletter<\/b><\/a>] <\/b><\/p>\n Why so much overtime?<\/b><\/p>\n Drysdale points to what he calls a \u201cliberal sick policy,\u201d saying too many shifts are left vacant especially between Fridays and Mondays.<\/p>\n Despite requests, the department told Action News Jax it does not have documents tracking sick leave overtime. However, District Chief Aaron Bebernitz specifically mentioned \u201csick leave abuse\u201d in his HR interview for the Chief position.<\/p>\n Drysdale, who made about $42,000 in overtime in 2024, said his overtime is to keep minimum staffing levels whether someone takes off for vacation or especially calls out sick. There is a smaller pool of Chiefs to choose from to fill-in for those roles and they are paid at a higher rate to begin with. <\/p>\n What\u2019s at stake for the City?<\/b><\/p>\n Jacksonville\u2019s City Council Auditor\u2019s Office projects deficits between $44 million and $105 million over the next four years. <\/p>\n The city also faces $3.5 billion in debt from police and fire pension obligations – part of why a watchdog group gave Jacksonville a \u201cD\u201d grade for financial health last year. However, the city maintains it\u2019s financially sound and points to Jacksonville receiving an AA+ bond rating from Fitch.<\/p>\n [DOWNLOAD: <\/b>Free Action News Jax app for alerts as news breaks<\/b><\/a>]<\/b><\/p>\n Official responses<\/b><\/p>\n In statements to Action News Jax:<\/p>\n JFRD said:<\/b><\/p>\n \u201cThere are many reasons for overtime within JFRD. Minimum staffing levels, mandatory training, job injuries, personal leave, deployments, storms, CORE, etc. JFRD personnel are required to be on duty 24\/7 every day of the year. Most private business do not hire overtime when personnel take a day off. When JFRD personnel take a well-deserved day off or they are assigned to other duties such as training, the department must fill those vacancies in order to maintain mandatory minimum staffing levels on apparatus. This requires the use of overtime. In addition, JFRD is an ISO Class 1 department and that rating saves citizens of the City of Jacksonville almost $300M annually in reduced property insurance premiums. ISO requires JFRD to keep minimum staffing levels on duty at all times in order to maintain this prestigious rating. With that said, JFRD keeps overtime usage at the lowest levels possible while still maintaining the required staffing levels necessary to keep this community safe.\u201d<\/p>\n The Mayor\u2019s Office added:<\/b><\/p>\n \u201cJacksonville is one of the fastest growing cities in the country each year. As a result, we need to add more firefighters, fire stations, and equipment to keep up with that growth. Doing so not only ensures the safety of our citizens through reduced response times, but it also maintains our top-notch ISO rating that deliver\u2019s $300 million in property insurance savings for homeowners each year. The increase in the mayor\u2019s proposed 2025-2026 budget is in large part due to the historic union agreement that was negotiated to increase salaries and return to a defined benefit pension. This progress creates better recruitment and retainment opportunities that save taxpayer dollars over time. In our efforts to continually streamline services and create more efficiency, Chief Golden has asked Manager of Strategic Initiatives Willie King to lead an effort to analyze overtime spending and make recommendations on how to utilize it more efficiently, while meeting necessary staffing requirements.\u201d<\/p>\n What\u2019s Next?<\/b><\/p>\n City Council begins budget hearings in August. Becker has reached out to JFRD Chief Percy Golden and the firefighter\u2019s union for comment. As of publication of this story, there has not been any responses.<\/p>\n Click here<\/b><\/a> to download the free Action News Jax news and weather apps, <\/b>click here<\/b><\/a> to download the Action News Jax Now app for your smart TV and <\/b>click here<\/b><\/a> to stream Action News Jax live.<\/b><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"JACKSONVILLE, Fla. \u2014 Action News Jax has learned the Jacksonville Fire and Rescue Department will analyze how it…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":71242,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5136],"tags":[7320,5229,49827,7323,49831,49829,49830,3188,723,7324,7310,7340,7327,49828,7325,49826,7326,67,586,132,5230,68,2969,7322,7321],"class_list":{"0":"post-71241","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-jacksonville","8":"tag-action-news-jax","9":"tag-america","10":"tag-captain-nnaemeka-ibeabuchi","11":"tag-cbs47","12":"tag-chief-of-recruitment-renaldo-horn","13":"tag-district-chief-tim-nguyen","14":"tag-engineer-michael-pluhacek","15":"tag-fl","16":"tag-florida","17":"tag-fox30","18":"tag-jacksonville","19":"tag-jacksonville-fire-and-rescue-department","20":"tag-jacksonville-fl","21":"tag-jfrd-battalion-chief-chip-drysdale","22":"tag-northeast-florida","23":"tag-overtime-jacksonville-fire-and-rescue-department","24":"tag-southeast-georgia","25":"tag-united-states","26":"tag-united-states-of-america","27":"tag-unitedstates","28":"tag-unitedstatesofamerica","29":"tag-us","30":"tag-usa","31":"tag-wfox","32":"tag-wjax"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"","error":"Validation failed: Text character limit of 500 exceeded"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/71241","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=71241"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/71241\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/71242"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=71241"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=71241"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=71241"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}