Fire overtime and unfilled crisis responder jobs: two budget cuts councilmembers want to revisit

Two proposed cuts in Mayor Katie Wilson's 2027-2028 budget have drawn concerns from both the Council's budget chair and its public safety chair: a $7.1 million reduction in Seattle Fire Department overtime, and the elimination of unfilled positions in the city's civilian crisis responder team.

Budget Chair Dan Strauss (District 6) said when the process began that he had concerns about cuts to CARE's Community Crisis Responders and to the Fire Department, according to a Council release. Public Safety Chair Robert Kettle (District 7) listed the fire overtime cut among the funding gaps he flagged after the Oct. 15 briefings, in a Council statement.

For residents, these items affect how many fire engines and ladder trucks are staffed on a given day, and who responds when someone in crisis calls 911.

What our records add: the fire budget

The Council's Central Staff Fire Department memo, presented at the Oct. 15 Select Budget Committee meeting (agenda item), explains the cut:

• The department's budget would fall from $350.7 million in 2026 to $346.2 million in 2027, a 1.3 percent drop, then rise to $354.0 million in 2028.
• The drop comes mostly from a $7.1 million ongoing cut to overtime, about 17 percent of the department's overtime budget. Because most of that overtime is worked by firefighters, they would bear most of the impact.
• The department uses overtime to reach its daily staffing target. That target is 222 firefighters in 2026. Under the proposal it would fall to 209.
• The department has 922 authorized firefighter positions, and 886 were filled as of Oct. 9.
• When it cannot staff every rig, the department takes "unit outages," choosing not to staff an engine or ladder truck for the day. The memo says it has done this on an ad hoc basis for several years, and the cut would make these outages a planned, more frequent part of operations.

The memo notes that overtime is voluntary, so on many days the department already falls short of its target. The budget also adds 10 firefighter positions for the Mobile Integrated Health program, which the memo describes as a technical change that adds no new staff or money, and adds ongoing funding of $820,000 for five firefighters to staff a peak-time aid car that the Council first funded for one year in 2026.

The CARE department budget

CARE, the Community Assisted Response and Engagement department, runs the city's 911 call center and its Community Crisis Responder team, which sends civilian responders to some calls. According to the Council's CARE memo (agenda item):

• The department's total budget would grow by $3.8 million, or 5.6 percent, in 2027, mainly because about $6.3 million in gun violence work would move in from the Human Services Department.
• The proposal cuts $2.3 million by eliminating 14 vacant crisis responder positions. The 2026 budget added 24 of these positions, and 10 have been filled. The memo says current citywide team deployment would be maintained.
• It also cuts $1.1 million by eliminating eight vacant 911 call taker positions, which the memo says would keep current call center response targets.

What's next

Councilmembers discuss their proposed changes to the Fire Department budget on Wednesday, Oct. 28, and to CARE and the police on Thursday, Oct. 29 (Legistar). Restoring either cut would mean finding money elsewhere in a budget that, according to Central Staff, still has a structural gap of about $23 million in 2027. The balancing package is set for Nov. 4, the public hearing for Nov. 5, and the final vote for Nov. 20, per the committee schedule.