These are the highest-paid Bellingham employees, and their department is over budget
The Bellingham Fire Department is exceeding its budget, hampered by pandemic-related overtime, training costs and sharp rises in the cost of fuel and medical supplies.
As a result, firefighters were the highest-paid city employees last year, with 12 of them earning more than Mayor Seth Fleetwood, according to 2021 salary information obtained by The Bellingham Herald.
At a recent financial review presented to the City Council on Aug. 29, the Fire Department had spent $13.6 million in 2022 and was running slightly more than 60% over its budget midway through the fiscal year.
Only three out of 14 city departments are over budget so far this year, Finance Director Andrew Asbjornsen told the council.
“Fire was already tracking high at the end of last year, and this has continued into this year as they continue to work to get staffed up, and (they) also have experienced higher than average sick leave, really, with the impacts of COVID and the requirements associated with COVID and minimum staffing levels,” Asbjornsen said.
But the news isn’t as grim as it seems on paper, Chief Bill Hewett told The Bellingham Herald.
Upcoming adjustments and payments for outstanding EMS services should put the Fire Department within $2.5 million of its budget by year’s end, he said in an email.
Further, hiring and training of recruits continues at an unparalleled pace, and that should address some of the department’s staffing issues, he said.
Some 159 firefighter positions are budgeted, but six remain open, Hewett said.
COVID’s toll
COVID-19 illnesses, vaccine-related dismissals and retirements have taken an immense toll on the department over the past three years, even as call volume has increased by about 10% in that time, Hewett said.
“Pre-pandemic our sick leave would run between 4% to 8%, meaning that on any given day 4% to 8% of the workforce would be unable to work. This year our sick leave hit a high of 20.5% in January and has averaged 15% throughout the year,” Hewett said.
Sick leave includes firefighters on long-term leave because of injury or illness, firefighters who test positive for COVID, and those who were close contacts of people who tested positive for COVID and are required to isolate under CDC guidelines, he said.
“We have always encouraged our members to not come to work sick, but since the start of COVID we’ve really emphasized the need to stay home if they have any symptoms. We also know that as firefighters work more overtime, they become more prone to illness and injury, which then leads to more sick leave usage,” Hewett said.
High pay, hard work
It’s not unusual for police officers and firefighters to rank among the city’s highest-paid employees, because those positions must be filled with overtime when someone is sick, injured or on vacation.
But those can be brutal hours, sometimes with little sleep.
Firefighters work 24-hour shifts with an unforgiving schedule that means they often miss family events such as holidays and birthdays.
“Bellingham has a very hard-working group of firefighters that continuously step up to the challenge of ensuring we keep all of our stations staffed and ready to respond,” Hewet said.
“We have an incredible team of women and men with an immense amount of compassion and desire to serve the community. I am very proud of the work that they do and very thankful for the continuing support of our mayor and City Council to ensure we keep our vital service going,” he said.
A total of 32 firefighter, paramedic and supervisory positions must be staffed daily, and overtime can be mandatory in some situations, Hewett said.
Bellingham firefighters answered 23,403 alarms in 2021 from eight stations serving Bellingham, Marietta and Lummi Nation, a figure that averages to about eight calls per station daily, according to the department’s 2021 report.
Further, firefighters must work in all kinds of weather and maintain their focus and composure at scenes of enormous personal tragedy and loss — including fires, car wrecks, and medical emergencies that require physical endurance and technical knowledge.
Firefighters earn a starting salary of $78,936 annually, according to the city’s website, and experienced or “lateral” firefighters earn $89,028.
Highest-paid employees
In 2021, a total of 20 Bellingham firefighters were among the city’s 25 highest-paid employees, surpassing the mayor and several department heads.
A total of 34 firefighters placed among the city’s 50 highest-paid employees last year.
Bellingham’s highest-paid employee in 2021 was Capt. Gordon Neitling, who earned $229,357 — more than twice his base salary of $114,771 as an engine company supervisor.
Fleetwood earned $180,254 in 2021, and his salary is set by city code.
In addition to his base salary, Neitling earned $87,398 in overtime for 2021, along with $27,188 in “other” pay.
“Other pay” is a salary bump that includes a length of service premium and incentive pay for special skills, such as being a police dog handler, a member of the fire boat crew, or a paramedic, according to previous Bellingham Herald reporting.
Neitling retired in June after more than 30 years of service, according a post on the department’s Facebook page.
By salary alone, however, Fleetwood is the highest-paid city official under the city charter.
The Herald requested information about city workers’ and elected officials’ salaries and other compensation through the state’s Public Records Act, a 1972 ballot initiative that gives Washington residents the right to see how their government works.
Hiring binge
Bellingham lost 16 firefighters in 2021 and 20 have left so far in 2022, Hewett said.
“These attrition numbers include retirements, resignations and terminations. We currently only have the capacity to hire and train about 30 people a year. This has made it very hard for us to grow the department even as the City Council has authorized new positions,” Hewett said.
To make up the difference, Bellingham hired 26 firefighters in 2021 and 37 in 2022 over four hiring processes.
Each hiring process costs about $30,000 to run, including the testing process, interviews, advertising and other expenses, and each new firefighter costs about $10,000 to hire, train and outfit with firefighting gear, uniforms, medical and physical exams, books, equipment, Hewett said.
“When we put together the biennium budget for 2021-2022 we were only anticipating needing to hire one recruit academy a year, but with the higher than normal attrition rate and adding new positions we have had to spend a lot more than anticipated for those costs and other costs associated with recruit academy,” he said.
This story was originally published September 6, 2022 at 5:00 AM with the headline "These are the highest-paid Bellingham employees, and their department is over budget."
