Metro departments start making their budget cases to Mayor Karl Dean this week. The Mayor has asked all agencies to cut spending by two percent, meaning some are looking for creative ways to do more with fewer workers.
Billy Lynch took over Nashville’s fire department last year, saying it was too top heavy. Since then, nearly 80 long-serving employees have accepted buyouts. And he says new members of the department will be required to work double duty. “They’re going to come out of that Academy and they’re going to understand they’re going to spend x amount of time on the ambulance and x amount of time on the fire engine,” Lynch says. “They’re gonna do it till they vest in our pension…10 years.”
Lynch is also asking mid-level officers to get out from behind their desks and help respond to calls. Metro Schools is doing something similar with its central office staff. Davidson County Sherriff Daron Hall says he’s moving some of his senior employees to part time, while allowing them collect part of their pension early.
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