BALTIMORE (Map, News) - Millions of dollars the city’s Board of Estimates approved in overtime for the police and fire departments drew criticism Wednesday.

City Councilman Jack “Bernard” Young, chairman of the Budget and Appropriations Committee, said the spending -- on top of budgeted overtime -- should have come before his committee for approval first.

“If it's new spending, it should go through a hearing,” Young said. “We need to look at it too.”

Young said finance officials told him the money to cover the cost overruns in police and fire departments came from surpluses at other city agencies and did not have to be approved by the council.

But city officials said later in the day that a bill seeking City Council approval for the additional spending was being prepared.

For non-budgeted overtime, the board approved $6 million for the fire department and $4 million for the police department.

The board also approved $14 million to cover an operational deficit for the police department and $1 million operational deficit for the fire department.

Budget officials warned earlier this year that the city police department was running a $19 million deficit and the fire department was $9 million in the red, largely because overtime spending. Officials said then that the overages were contributing to a fiscal strain on city already facing a 30 percent drop in recordation and transfer taxes due to a faltering real estate market.

City police spokesman Sterling Clifford said despite cost overruns, police overtime spending is down 20 percent compared with this time last year.

Young however, expressed concern that annual overruns in overtime spending would eat into youth programs.

“I am a big supporter of the police and fire departments,” Young said. “But somehow, we have to get a handle on overtime spending.”

“We don't want this cutting into programs for our youth,” he said. “We can either pay now or pay later when it comes to our children.”

Budgeting for overtime has proved difficult for the city police. From fiscal year 2006 to 2007, police exceeded the overtime budget by nearly $50 million, prompting complaints from city leaders the spending was restricting spending on other programs.

Since 2008, stricter controls have been placed on police overtime, Clifford said.

sjanis@baltimoreexaminer.com