Published on July 28, 2023
In a year of belt-tightening, why is the City of Gainesville planning to increase the budget for the Gainesville Police Department (GPD) by more than $4 million and Gainesville Fire Rescue (GFR) by about $5.5 million? What looks like higher spending is largely just a better way of showing the true cost of providing police and fire protection to the people of Gainesville. In the past, the City would start the fiscal year by estimating the overtime hours reasonably expected from police officers and firefighters during the coming months. But with vacancies in the departments, this became increasingly difficult to predict. At the end of the year, when actual overtime hours were fully documented, the budget was updated and the City would provide additional funds to cover any shortfalls. This year, the City is rightsizing the budget. For GPD and GFR, that means calculating a more realistic prediction and budgeting for overtime costs in advance. This is why GPD’s proposed budget is about $41 million (11 percent higher than last year) and GFR’s proposed budget nears $28 million (25 percent higher than last year). A full year of anticipated overtime pay is already included for each department. The remainder of the increases for GPD and GFR come mainly from salary raises and benefits negotiated with their respective unions to recruit and retain new police officers and firefighters/EMTs.
Find more information about the City of Gainesville budget process and timeline.