Greater than expected overtime charges pushed 91原创 City鈥檚 fire service costs $92,000 over budget in 2010.

鈥淚t is a significant amount (of money), but we had an extraordinary year this past year,鈥� said City chief administrative officer Francis Cheung.

Cheung cited overtime pay, with two firefighters being out with 鈥渟ignificant鈥� WorkSafe-related injuries as being responsible for the majority of the overage.

The death in January of firefighter Ron Dunkley also had an effect, Cheung said. Dunkley was hospitalized for two months in Seattle after being struck by a train on Nov. 6, while visiting the U.S. city for a football game.

The shifts Dunkley would have worked during November and December, as well as those missed by the firefighters on Workers Compensation, were filled by co-workers earning overtime pay, Cheung explained.

The City is currently recruiting two new firefighters to fill vacant positions. Once that is done, said Cheung, the City is hoping to manage overtime at the fire department more effectively.

At the same time, call volumes to the City fire department have roughly doubled over the past several years. Firefighters act as first responder to medical emergencies, which comprise roughly 70 per cent of the calls the hall receives.

On Monday, the City of 91原创 released a list of every municipal employee who earned more than $75,000鈥� including salaries, bonuses, gratuities and expenses paid on their behalf 鈥�  in 2010. Of the 41 names on the list, 22 are firefighters. Several of the firefighters earned over $100,000 in 2010.

Cheung said that while several of those people are higher ranking individuals with base salaries in excess of $75,000, others are on the list solely because of the overtime they earned last year.

Meanwhile, Cheung as the top manager at City Hall is the municipality鈥檚 top earner, with a salary of $191,267 in 2010, and $32,733 in expenses. Darrin Leite, the City鈥檚 director of corporate services (in charge of finance), earned $138,366, while Gerald Minchuk, director of development services, received the third highest pay at $135,588. These figures do not include expenses.

Council remuneration figures, which were also released Monday, show Mayor Peter Fassbender received $71,649 in salary, bonuses and gratuities in 2010. Over the same 12-month period, the mayor claimed $8,826 in expenses, for a total of $80,475.

The top-earning councillor 鈥� Gayle Martin 鈥� received $32,243 in pay and claimed an additional $4,460 in expenses.

Councillor Jack Arnold earned $31,365 and claimed $4,780 in expenses and Councillor Rosemary Wallace earned $29,257 and claimed an additional $5,590, while Councillors Teri James, Rudy Storteboom and Dave Hall each earned $28,660.

James claimed an additional $7,062 and Storteboom, $2,089. Hall claimed $712 in expenses, making him the only member of council to come in under the $30,000 mark.

Altogether, including expenses paid on behalf of members, council cost City taxpayers $284,293 in 2010.

Throughout its budgeting process earlier this year, the City explained that wages are one of the main drivers of this year鈥檚 2.99 per cent average tax increase. At $8.4 million in 2010 they are second only to policing costs, which are expected to comprise $9 million of the City鈥檚 $38 million budget in 2011.