By Carson Swick
Baltimore Sun
BALTIMORE 鈥� Baltimore leaders say the total 鈥� caused by high vacancy rates in a half dozen city agencies 鈥� could rack up a $150 million bill for the 2025 calendar year.
Figures presented Thursday by City Council President Zeke Cohen show the city already spent about $39 million in overtime costs through April, meaning the expected total is between $115 million and $150 million for the entire year. The city spent $114 million on overtime in 2023 and $139 million in 2024, according to Cohen.
While city budgets run on July-through-June fiscal years and not regular calendar years, just $76.7 million was set aside for overtime expenses in fiscal 2025. proposal sets aside $89.5 million for overtime, according to a presentation by Baltimore Budget Director Laura Larsen . When agencies exceed those budgets, the council retroactively appropriates funds, which one member called a 鈥渂ad-faith鈥� way of operating.
Asked why his proposed budget allocates much less for overtime than projected, Scott鈥檚 office said there will 鈥渁lways be unanticipated overtime associated with delivering core city services,鈥� such as responding to emergencies like last week鈥檚 in West Baltimore .
鈥淲e can鈥檛 compromise on these core services, and we can鈥檛 predict exactly how many overtime hours will accrue as we deliver them each year. But there are steps we can take to reduce these costs 鈥� including filling vacant positions, so less overtime is needed,鈥� Scott鈥檚 office said in an emailed statement, pointing to the city鈥檚 22% reduction in vacancies this year.
Councilman Mark Conway referenced a Baltimore Sun article about BCFD paramedic David Lunsford , whose overtime hours helped him earn $358,586 last year to become the city鈥檚 highest-paid employee. He said the situation proves the city鈥檚 overtime levels are 鈥渃learly not financially sustainable.鈥�
Larsen replied that while the fire department has made progress in filling firefighter vacancies, hiring paramedics remains a problem during a national shortage of EMS workers.
Vacancies drive overtime
Larsen said six city agencies collectively account for 95% of all overtime spending: The Baltimore Police Department , Baltimore City Fire Department , Department of Public Works (DPW), Department of Transportation (DOT), Department of General Services , and Department of Recreation and Parks . The spending levels are driven by high staffing vacancy rates within these agencies, 37% of which are for positions that have not been filled in 18 months or more, according to Larsen.
鈥淲e call these positions 鈥榩hantom positions鈥� because they exist on paper, but are apparently unlikely to be filled by real people,鈥� Cohen said, putting the number of current vacant positions that report directly to the city鈥檚 administration at 530.
Larsen鈥檚 presentation showed a clear correlation between vacancies and overtime, as five agencies accounted for 73% of all vacant positions across the city: The police department, fire department, DPW, DOT and Baltimore City Health Department .
Despite the vacancies, Larsen said the city added 126 new positions to ease during fiscal 2025. Scott鈥檚 fiscal 2026 budget recommends 84 new positions for funding within these agencies, according to the budget director.
鈥淲e continue to fund those positions in the budget because we want to get them filled 鈥� and it鈥檚 also a better way to provide service,鈥� Larsen said, noting that some vacancies 鈥� especially within the health department 鈥� are funded by 鈥渧arious grants鈥� and not the city directly.
Council questioning
During Thursday鈥檚 hearing, City Council members grilled Larsen and other city leaders about the impact of such overspending.
Councilman Ryan Dorsey raised concerns about the council鈥檚 practice of to cover deficits caused by overtime spending in city agencies. He asked Larsen if there are 鈥渃onsequences鈥� for agencies that exceed their designated budgets, to which she responded that budgets are managed through the city administrator and agency directors.
鈥淭his agency just does whatever it鈥檚 doing, that ends up coming on the back of somebody else and that鈥檚 not what we [originally] approved,鈥� Dorsey said. 鈥淭hat鈥檚 a dishonest, bad-faith way of operating after the fact.鈥�
During an exchange with the Baltimore Department of Human Resources (DHR), Councilman Mark Parker suggested the levels of overtime pay had become 鈥減art of the retention strategy鈥� among fire department employees 鈥� a concern later echoed by Cohen. DHR Deputy Director Tonya Brinkley replied she could 鈥渘ot agree or disagree鈥� with Parker and noted her department often matches outside offers to keep well-performing employees.
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