Beverly Public Safety Leaders Eye Stabilization After $160K Dispatch Overages

BEVERLY, MA — Beverly public safety leaders and city officials said they will explore ways to stabilize personnel and refine budget requests in the newly combined dual-dispatch department after the need to request $160,000 in additional funds to cover overtime and other costs, largely because of employee turnover and training coverage requirements.

City Councilors approved the funding from the "Reserve for Unforeseen" account — but not before grilling the police chief, fire chief, and city financial leaders on whether this was a one-time request based on circumstances related to one year, or due to a structural deficit in the department.

"This is the first year that we've been fully staffed in that department," Beverly Finance Director Bryant Ayles told the Council. "There were unknowns. We didn't know exactly how the staffing structure was going to play out from day one. We did have some turnover, initially, in that department that caused new staff to be hired, additional training to take place, which costs money in overtime, with time behind the dispatch console that was vacant with the people who left, with other dispatchers (covering shifts) at the rate of time-and-a-half."

Ayles said future budget requests for overtime will have to be better aligned with staffing needs, given the knowledge that recurring overtime will be needed to cover shifts, as there are fewer full-time employees than necessary to cover vacant shifts in a given week.

The allowance for the need for additional overtime funding comes as the city faces a projected $3.9 million deficit heading into fiscal year 2027 budget discussions.

Beverly budget analyst Gerry Perry said, "I did not see this one coming," but he was assured by Mayor Michael Cahill's office that the city does not intend to make additional requests for this year beyond the $160,000 approved on Monday night.

"There is inherently in public safety built-in overtime," Perry said, "because of the 24/7 environment that they have there. Unlike in a routine, business option that you have, 9-to-5, if you are out, you don't have to backfill. ... Public safety, always, historically and traditionally, has built-in overtime that is necessary to properly function."

Perry told the Council that not voting for the transfer would have required cuts in other areas of the budget, including potential layoffs.

"I do recommend that you do this," Perry said of supporting the $160,000. "It's not something that I was looking forward to recommending to you. I was hoping it wouldn't happen."

Beverly Police Chief John LeLacheur and Fire Chief Peter O'Connor both said that while steps were being taken to stabilize the dispatch department, some annual turnover among communications staff — and the need to cover new employee training with overtime — needs to be expected given that many prospective police officers and firefighters use dispatch positions as a stepping stone to get into public safety to pursue more advanced careers.

"We don't want to see anybody go," O'Connor said. "But I also don't want to hold anybody back from fulfilling a lifelong dream. When that happens, it leaves a big void for us. We can't leave a seat empty. And we can't put somebody in a seat that is not prepared for the job.

"None of us wants to see overages like this. This kind of caught us."