Fire Department reins in overtime problems

The Anne Arundel County Fire Department has kept its overtime spending under budget for the first time, fire officials have announced, quieting an issue that was blamed for losing previous chiefs their jobs.

It didn't hurt that the budgeted amount was far higher than in past years.

In the fiscal year ending last week, the department fell $300,000 short of the $7.8 million budgeted for overtime and special pay. Overall, the agency's operating budget finished the year with a surplus of $2 million, the second consecutive surplus under Chief David L. Stokes' watch after 14 straight years of meeting or exceeding its operating limit.