Pittsburgh is on track to spend an extra $11.5 million on firefighters this year, throwing its budget back into the red, City Council's budget director reported yesterday.

The reason: The city was down to 707 firefighters at the end of last month, far below the 820 budgeted for 2005. There are not enough firefighters to staff every shift, so many are called back to work overtime to fulfill minimum staffing requirements in their union contract.

Contract talks with the union also are up in the air, which could further burst the $417.5 million budget.

The firefighters union is offering to reopen the contract and close some fire stations, which would allow the city to use fewer firefighters and pay out less for overtime, but it wants a five-year contract in exchange. The city's fiscal oversight board has criticized that idea, saying the city should sign a short-term pact with the union.

As of now, there is an impasse among the city, union and board, making the budget situation bleak for Pittsburgh once again.

"It's not a pretty picture," said council's budget chairman, Alan Hertzberg.

The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reported last week that firefighters made up 42 of the city's 50 highest-paid workers during 2004, because of the overtime problem. All were paid more than $100,000 during the year, which is more than Mayor Tom Murphy's salary ("42 city firefighters earned more than $100,000 in 2004," Feb. 2, 2005).

The city's Act 47 plan calls for $10.7 million in firefighter salary cuts this year, but the city still is trying to win that in contract arbitration. Murphy has said that a neutral arbitrator asked the city to work instead on a longer-term deal with the union that would achieve the same yearly savings.

So far there is no deal -- either a long-term deal or a yearly one -- and that is keeping firefighter ranks low and overtime payments big.

If there is no solution during the year, the city will pay an extra $4.5 million in salaries and $7 million in overtime over the year, for an extra $11.5 million in Fire Bureau costs, budget director Scott Kunka reported.

The union's president, Joseph King, said the union would agree to about $11.7 million in yearly spending cuts tied to station closings and staff cuts, but wants the long-term pact in exchange.

"We are coming to the table with some real money, people. All we're asking for is five years," he told council.

A study prepared for the fiscal oversight board says the city could save some $20 million annually in Fire Bureau costs -- far above those proposed by the Act 47 team -- largely by increasing the firefighter workweek from 42 to 56 hours.

Murphy's operations director, Bob Kennedy, said the city could not do that without changing state law. Another state law -- the one creating the oversight board -- also bars the city from counting on state law changes to balance its budget, he noted.

And if the union does increase hours by 14 a week -- or 728 hours a year -- firefighters would be due bigger salaries for working more, King said, reducing the oversight board's savings estimates.

Council also heard a report on the contract awarded to the police union in December, which both the city and the oversight board have appealed.

The oversight board filed suit against the city and the Fraternal Order of Police, claiming in part that the city neglected to inform the board about its contract negotiations.

City Solicitor Jacqueline Morrow said the Murphy administration will argue that the board has no standing to appeal the police award, even though the city will continue with its own appeal. The city argues the contract did not include all the spending cuts -- particularly on health care -- required by the Act 47 recovery plan.