Already, at least two higher-ranking firefighters have been fired, and several others have been disciplined.
AUSTIN, Texas — Austin police have opened an investigation in a broadening examination into overtime billing discrepancies in the Austin Fire Department (AFD) that also raise questions about department financial oversight.
Details about the number of current and former employees under investigation and the amount of money that they are accused of potentially overbilling the city for fire hydrant inspections is not immediately clear.
Austin police, whose special investigations unit is handling the matter, said they could not comment because the matter is ongoing. They are currently examining firefighters who worked in AFD’s fire prevention unit over the past several years, determining whether they were paid overtime and comparing their reported hours with data from city vehicle tracking devices.
Already, at least two higher-ranking firefighters have been fired, and several others have been disciplined.
The records also reveal what employees described as a widespread practice and lack of understanding in the AFD’s prevention unit about how they were supposed to track and bill overtime hours, creating inconsistencies that went unaddressed for years.
The department said in a statement this week that it has since “implemented an auditing process and revised the added time and overtime policies to ensure clarity among all divisions.”
“Austin Fire is committed to ethical public service and being good stewards of city resources. We will continue to uphold ourselves and one another to those standards,” the statement said.
Firefighters said in statements as part of the department’s investigation that they believed they were required to charge overtime to the city that matched the same amount that the city charged property owners to conduct inspections. However, those fees typically included charges that helped support the operation of the inspection program, including clerical staff – not just for firefighters’ overtime.
Firefighters often documented that such inspections took at least an hour, for instance, even if they didn’t, documents show.
“A member engaging in this practice might record 10 hours of added time but a later review of their vehicle records show they spent less time,” the department said in an investigative report.
The department said it began investigating overtime issues in June after receiving a complaint about possible overtime fraud.
Last week, as the investigation continues, Fire Chief Joel Baker fired Division Chief Steven Truesdell for what a disciplinary memo said was “failing to maintain acceptable standards” in the division, including “allowing members to misreport timekeeping.”
“Chief Truesdell will fight these allegations and accusations not only for himself but also for his firefighters,” his attorney, Matt Bachop, said.
Truesell’s termination is the second firing since February, when Baker fired Capt. Chelsea Caloia, saying that she overcounted overtime hours and improperly used her city vehicle for personal use.
Overtime records recently obtained by KVUE’s media partners at the Austin American-Statesman show that Caloia reported working more than 730 hours in overtime last year, bringing in $95,000.
Her attorney has denied wrongdoing by Caloia and said she is appealing her firing.
At the time, Baker said an investigation had found a culture of “impropriety and unethical conduct” in the division.
A disciplinary memo for Tuesdell said that Baker also had recently disciplined two other captains related to their timekeeping. Capt. Christian Ward was recently demoted from captain to lieutenant, and Capt. Jesus Santiago was suspended for 16 days.
David Girouard, president of the Austin Firefighters Association, said in a statement: “The association is committed to due process, fairness, and ensuring that everyone is provided with an equal opportunity to present a vigorous defense to any charge, claim or assertion.”