Unidentified Speaker 1 opened the Finance Committee by saying the question of paying exempt police managers overtime had been discussed in committee three weeks earlier and that HR and police leadership had been working on options. "It's not in the ordinance, for exempt employees to receive overtime," the speaker said, framing the choice between formally allowing the practice or sunsetting it.

The Police Chief told the committee the practice has long existed in the department and said managers step in primarily to avoid forcing rank-and-file officers into extra shifts. "We're doing it for helping out," the chief said, characterizing the payments as a retention and staffing tool rather than a vehicle for extra pay. He and other police speakers described near-term staffing gaps (three employees on paternity leave and only four dispatchers) and noted hiring timelines that place new recruits on patrol only after months of training.

Detective Corey Baglin described operational impacts from being short staffed. "I was being forced to work shifts," Baglin said, adding that supervisors who stepped in allowed detectives to keep up with investigative paperwork. Committee members noted cost and fairness trade-offs: one speaker said police overtime funds total about $373,900 and that public safety (police, fire, dispatch) is among the largest cost centers in city government.

Several councilors raised safety and fatigue concerns after hearing examples of officers working extreme hours; one member said officers had logged more than 100 hours in a week in at least one instance. Those safety concerns were weighed against retention and recruitment costs: police staff cited that hiring and training one sworn officer can cost roughly $96,000 by academy graduation.

After discussion the committee directed HR to prepare options for council consideration: an ordinance amendment that would explicitly permit exempt employees in 24‑hour public safety functions to receive overtime, and a second option that would be narrower or include a sunsetting approach to align with next year’s budget. Unidentified Speaker 1 said the options would be brought back for the council to review and for the finance process to incorporate forecasted overtime scenarios.

The committee did not take any formal vote; the next concrete step is HR preparing ordinance drafts and a budget forecast for overtime exposure.